VENTURA — Eight-year-old Alys Campos, a second grade student at Montalvo Elementary School in Ventura, has been declared the winner of the 2012 California Strawberry Festival Youth Art Design Contest, sponsored by Valu Plus Food Warehouse, Festival Chairwoman Daisy Tatum stated in a media release on Thursday.
A record 1,280 elementary students from school districts throughout Ventura County submitted entries and the judges had their work cut out for them to pick just one winner. Campos was the surprised guest of honor when Festival representatives created a pizza party and award presentation with her entire class to celebrate the announcement. She received a $100 gift certificate (teacher was awarded $50 gift certificate) and the honor of having her design showcased before a crowd of thousands in the Community Connections exhibit at the California Strawberry Festival May 19, 20.
Campos’ winning masterpiece is especially advanced for a second grader, featuring a delicious strawberry festooned with an interlacing vine script. She and her entire family will also be esteemed guests of the Festival where her eye-catching design will adorn Youth T-shirt merchandise available at the souvenir tent.
To create the winning design, Campos used bright crayons and markers.
“Working with my fellow teacher Juanita Porras, the class got into the assignment when they sampled strawberries from the kitchen and focused on their five senses to deeply understand all aspects of the berry,” said her teacher Elia Olmos.
A terrific student who tries hard and takes pride in her work, young Campos gets along well with her peers and in her spare times loves to play softball, dance and sing.
“Rewarding our young people who put forth the effort to excel is a tradition of shared community pride that continues to grow each and every year by how many lives are impacted,” Tatum said. Any student who participated in the contest received a free ticket to the Festival.
“We are proud to be supporting this program that is an extension of our outreach work connecting with kids in our schools,” Paul Vazin, president of KV Mart and Darioush Khaledi, CEO of KV Mart added in a statement,
The 2012 California Strawberry Festival is 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., May 19, 20 at Strawberry Meadows of College Park (3250 So. Rose Ave.) in Oxnard. Tickets range from $5 to $12 with event proceeds benefiting more than 40 charities. Free shuttle service from convenient locations off the 101 Freeway.
Limited parking is available on site for $10. More information and advance tickets are available at www.strawberry-fest.org or by calling 1-888-288-9242.
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