Sullivan students win four Best of Class awards at fair’s Student Showcase

Four Sullivan Middle School students won Best of Class recognition at the San Diego County Fair’s Student Showcase.

In the Fine Arts competition, the drawings categories included Fair Theme, “Where the West Is Fun.” Brianna Hostler had the Best of Class for seventh-graders in the Fair Theme contest, and Layton Gilbert took Best of Class for eighth-graders. The Fine Arts category also included the “3-D Other Than Listed” competition, and Jazlin Ortiz won Best of Class for eighth-graders. Anneka Zijlstra entered the “Photography” competition and took Best of Class for eighth-grade students in the “Color Photography” division.

“It was really exciting," Sullivan art instructor Melissa Ledri said. "I was surprised that we had four this year.”

Hostler drew a path split by cactuses leading into a setting sun with hills in the background.

“She put a lot of time into it,” Ledri said. “She’s very hard on herself as an artist. I’m happy that she won something just to validate her effort.”

The fair theme presented several options for Western-themed art.

“There’s a lot of ways you can go with that,” Ledri said.

Hostler proposed her drawing to Ledri before starting.

“I liked her idea,” Ledri said. “I told her to keep going with it.”

The 2016-2017 school year was Hostler’s first as Ledri’s student.

Gilbert turned his entry for “Where the West Is Fun” into a comic book cover with a horse and rider pictured in front of a bank.

“He’s really into that animation, anime,” Ledri said. “He used his style with the theme.”

Ledri had Gilbert in her beginning art class during 2014-2015, but Gilbert took Ledri’s advanced art class in 2015-2016 and 2016-2017.

“He’s like a graphic artist in the sense of how he goes about creating things,” Ledri said. “He always puts a lot of effort into any of his artworks.”

Ortiz sculpted a miniature Western boot from balsa wood for her entry.

“There was a lot of detail in it,” Ledri said. “She put a lot of effort and time and thought into it.”

Ledri added the 3-D design and printmaking class to her beginning art and advanced art classes for the 2016-2017 school year.

“It’s really nice for her to win that,” Ledri said of Ortiz’ Best of Class award. “She puts so much love into her projects. It’s not surprising that she won. Doing the minimum requirements wasn’t enough for her.”

Ortiz made three projects, although she was only allowed to enter one in the Student Showcase. She conferred with Ledri before deciding to enter the boot.

During 2016-2017, Ortiz was in eighth grade, her second year as an art student at Sullivan Middle School.

“She has the talent, and she has the skill,” Ledri said. “She listened, and she did everything to the best of her ability.”

The artwork needed to be submitted by May 17, so the students began working on their fair entries in early April and finished their work over a period of four to five weeks.

“They usually only give us about a month,” Ledri said.

For her entry, Zijlstra took a photo of boots hanging from the outside wall of a barn, a bucket and barrel sat behind the boots.

“It was just a really cool angle,” Ledri said.

Sullivan does not have an official photography program. Zijlstra took Ledri’s advanced art class and asked if she could submit a photograph for the Student Showcase.

“I was glad that she wanted to submit a photo,” Ledri said. “She just loves taking pictures. She really kind of thrived with the chance, and she worked really hard to get something that she was excited about.”

Because Ledri had not previously submitted a photograph for the Student Showcase, the Sullivan photography debut had a minor glitch in presentation. The fair requires a 16-inch by 20-inch board for mounting, and Ledri had Zijlstra’s photo mounted on an eight-inch by ten-inch board.

“When I took her photo into the fair, it was too small,” Ledri said.

Ledri opted to wait rather than return without submitting Zijlstra’s photo, as another art teacher shared an extra mounting board he had which met Student Showcase specifications.

“It would have been devastating if I hadn’t waited," Ledri said. “I’m so thankful that the other teacher had an extra piece of board. He was happy that he could help me, too.”

The compliance with the fair’s specifications made Zijlstra’s photograph eligible for the competition, and it eventually the Best of Class award.

“It was exciting,” Ledri said.

A total of 28 students were enrolled in Ledri’s 3-D design and printmaking class at the end of the 2016-2017 school year.

“It’s not too many, but it’s not too small either,” she said.

Another 22 students took her advanced art class during the recently completed school year. The 28 students who took her beginning art class included 10 sixth-graders.

Ledri entered the sixth-grader students in the Creative Youth competition for grades K-6, while her seventh-grade and eighth-grade students had entries in the fair’s Student Showcase.

“I just like that kids get to choose what they want to do,” Ledri said, speaking of the artwork. “You put a lot of yourself into it. It’s more personal than a lot of things.”

Last year, Ledri’s 33 seventh-grade and eighth-grade students had entries in the Student Showcase, and two of her sixth-graders had work displayed in the Creative Youth exhibit.

“It’s just fun as an art teacher,” Ledri said. “You get to participate in that too.”

Ledri went to high school in Vista and entered the county fair’s Student Showcase as a student. She studied visual arts and painting at Gordon College in Massachusetts. Ledri, who teaches sixth-grade language arts and social studies as well as art classes, has taught at Sullivan Middle School since 2001. She began teaching art in 2011 after her predecessor retired. She entered her art students in the county fair in 2015 for the first time.

“It’s some time and effort to enter them in the fair, but it’s definitely worth it,” Ledri said.