Royal Oak High Students Win Statewide Graphic Arts Awards

The Michigan Industrial Technology Education Society (MITES) honored eight Royal Oak High School students for their creativity at the State Graphic Arts Competition held at Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant last month.

Clove Wilkins, a sophomore, was awarded first place for stationary design and fourth place for a poster design in the single color electronic publishing category and juniors Camden Barnes and Jaccob Gibson were awarded second place for a brochure in the group graphic arts field. Gibson also was awarded 10th place for a process 4-color poster.

Elizabeth Patt (third place), Jordan Schebil (fourth place), Sean Sloan (fifth place), Abbey Turner (seventh place), Owen Drane (eighth  place), Brooke Krocek and Josef Helme (honorable mentions) also brought home awards in electronic publishing from the state competition.

"I had 20 pieces of student artwork compete in the MITES regional competition, and of those 20 pieces, 16 of them advanced onto the MITES State Graphic Arts Competition where they competed against schools from around the state of Michigan," said Rachael Wrobel, a graphic communications instructor at Royal Oak High School. "Of those 16 projects that went onto states, eight students brought home first through 10th place ribbons or plaques."

The projects were all created using Adobe PhotoShop and Illustrator.

"The Graphic Communications class is really good," said Gibson. "It allows you to follow your own creative path."

Gibson said he was surprised to win an award for the brochure he designed with Barnes for the Career Technical Education Classes at Royal Oak High School, but was honored by the recognition.

"I wasn't expecting to win either," said Wilkins. "My passion is film but I guess I am good at graphic art, too."

Wilkins, Gibson and Barnes are all hoping to pursue a career in the arts.

"I am glad I took this class," Barnes said. "It was worth it."