Senior art student Grace Becker won $2,000 in cash for place first in the 2018 Walgreens Expression Challenge with her visual arts entry.

The challenge was across in the St. Louis and Chicago areas. The challenge was to use the students medium, whether it be art, writing or multimedia, to express their perspectives on challenges that impact teens as part of the contest.

“This challenge is important for students because when they express themselves genuinely, it gives them an outlet for creativity, emotions, and ideas,” said Walgreens Director of Community Affairs John Gremer to The Intelligencer. “Teens today deal with real-world issues.”

Becker entered the contest after hearing about it at a National Art Honor Society meeting. However, she has been working on her art her whole life.

“This is the first contest I’ve won through the Internet,” Becker said. “Ms. Spinka recommended we should enter it and I was inspired by the Walgreens Expressions Challenge prompt.”

She won against thousands of submitted entries about very different issues such as bullying, school shootings or teen suicide. Becker’s focus aimed towards sexting, a topic she felt was growing due to newer technology.

For the art, she used Prismacolor colored pencils and spent two days working on it after weeks of thought according to The Intelligencer.

“I wanted to bring attention to the yellow-orange girl by making her a different color and illuminating her,” Becker said. “I did this because it was her pictures that were made public and this would bring unwanted attention to herself. I also think that the placement of the phones help move the eye throughout the piece.”

NAHS President and junior Gwynn Frisbie-Firsching says that all society members are proud of her winning and representing EHS.