Rainier Middle School student wins poster contest
Published 12:20 pm Sunday, May 31, 2015
For the Reporter
Valeria Moskalenko, an eighth-grader at Rainier Middle School, designed an eye-catching, fun rendering of children basking in the sun, but doing so safely.
Her design was selected among the thousands of entrants throughout the state as the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2015 Washington State SunWise with SHADE Poster contest winner.
Moskalenko’s image shows children frolicking in appropriate attire, and Washington-resident orcas getting into the action.
As the winner, Moskalenko received sun safety kits for her school. Her design will grace the EPA’s website for years to come.
Moskalenko’s winning design was celebrated at a pep assembly.
“Well, I had an idea and I kept working at it,” Moskalenko said. “I got it to where I was satisfied, and then I wanted to be sure. So I asked Mr. (Luis) Chavez for advice, and he made a few suggestions on how to make it better. I worked at it one more time, and submitted it.”
Chavez is the school’s renowned art teacher who was recently honored for 30 years of dedicated service to the district and the arts. He is revered by students, past and present, staff and families.
“We are thrilled with the outcome of the work by our teachers and our students this year,” said Ben Talbert, Rainier principal. “The EPA’s SunWise with SHADE Poster contest is a wonderful program. We had over 40 students participate in the contest, and over 120 partake in the EPA’s sun safety program. The quality of our entrants work far exceeded our expectations. Our winning designer and design is a reflection of our school’s unique sensibility to mold art with science.”
The EPA has an annual contest that encourages students and teachers across the country to teach skin cancer risk and sun safety. The contest invites young artists from all around the United States to submit thoughtful hand-drawn posters that portray the essence of what the EPA calls, “Being SunWise.” SunWise is about being sun safe – and is the Shade Foundation’s, a subsidiary of the Environmental Protection Agency’s, program to prevent childhood skin cancer.
“Mrs. Muscolo’s work has helped students learn about skin protection and skin cancer risk,” said Lawrence Young, executive director of the Shade Foundation. “Valeria’s art captures the science taught about skin cancer prevention without risking loss of interest by viewers by being too scientific, and represents Washington state’s landscape.
“Her work was an ideal choice. Valeria is an amazing young artist, a tremendous student, and she is very deserving of this award.”
To learn more about the contest, visit here.
