An Isaac E. Young Middle School student is moving on to the next round of a worldwide poster competition. Maria Damiani is one of six local winners of the Lions Club International Peace Poster contest.
The annual contest encourages students 11 to 13 years old to express their vision of world peace through art. This year’s theme is “Journey of Peace.”
Damiani’s poster depicted an angel carrying the Earth. IEYMS art teacher Claudia Cassone said the honor the eighth grader won was great for her self-confidence.
“She really put herself out there and showed everybody what she could do as an artist,” Cassone said.
Cassone worked with the students to prepare for the contest.
“I spoke to them about it, but they had to come up with their own ideas,” she said. “This was their vision, and they all had something unique to share.”
The Larchmont Mamaroneck and New Rochelle Lions co-sponsored the local contest in cooperation with five area middle schools and the Community Resource Center. Two other IEYMS students, Eva Uribe and Kevin Montufar, earned recognition as Runner Up in this round.
The local Lions Clubs recognized Damiani’s poster at a ceremony in Larchmont earlier this month. She is one of four local winners who advance to the next round. The international poster contest winner will be announced at the United Nations in the spring.
For more than three decades, Lions clubs around the world have sponsored this contest in schools and youth groups. On its Web site, Lions Club International says, “Creating peace posters gives children everywhere the chance to express their visions of peace and inspire the world through art and creativity.”
Cassone praised the results of the local contest, lauding the works of her own students as well as those from the other schools.
“All of the students did beautiful work,” she said.
