Emma Sebranek, a fifth grade student at Hillsboro Elementary School, has taken the first step to becoming an internationally recognized artist by winning a local competition sponsored by the Hillsboro Lions Club.
Emma is the daughter of Amy and Rick Sebranek.
Sebranek’s poster was among more than 375,000 entries submitted worldwide in the 26th annual Lions International Peace Poster Contest. Lions Clubs International is sponsoring the contest to emphasize the importance of world peace to young people everywhere.
“Peace is just many words put into one—harmony, friendship, fun, and love—all put into one word: peace,” the eleven-year-old from Hillsboro said. The poster was selected by Lions Sandra Holverson, Brenda Kruger, Bob Potter, Shawn Redington, and Dave Sterba for its originality, artistic merit, and portrayal of the contest theme, “Our world, our future.” The judging was held Nov. 12 at Hillsboro Elementary School.
Art teacher Julie Johnson made the local competition possible by instructing students in the rules and providing examples of winning peace posters from previous years.
Other winners of the local competition at Hillsboro included Megan Salisbury, daughter of Todd and Wendy Salisbury, second place; Grace Holthe, daughter of Sheri and Jared Holthe, third place; and Mitch Huntley, son of David and Denise Huntley, honorable mention.
Hillsboro Lions Club President Allan Fanta said he was impressed by the expression and creativity of the students at Hillsboro Elementary School. “It is obvious that these young people have strong ideas about what peace means to them. I’m so proud that we were able to provide them with the opportunity to share their visions.”
Sebranek’s poster will advance to face stiff competition through the district, multiple district, and international rounds of competition if she is declared the international grand winner, Fanta said.
One grand prize winner and 23 merit award winners will be selected. The grand prize includes a cash award of $5,000.
“Our club is cheering for Emma as her poster advances in the competition, and we hope that her vision will ultimately be shared with others around the world,” Fanta said.
Locally, Sebranek and other students from throughout the seven-county Lions district will be honored at the District Convention February 8, 2014, hosted by the LaCrosse Lions Club.
View international grand prize and merit award winners at www.lionsclub.org.
Lions Club International is the world’s largest service club organization with 1.35 million members in more than 46,000 clubs in 207 countries and geographical areas. In addition to its efforts toward conquering blindness, the organization has made a strong commitment to community service and helping youth throughout the world
