Young artists, writers win NTID contests

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The Wind, created by high school student Gabriel Veit of Austin, Texas, took first place in the graphic media category of the RIT/NTID Digital Arts, Film and Animation Competition.

Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf has announced the winners of the annual Digital Arts, Film and Animation Competition for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students. The contest, in its 11th year, generated dozens of entries in graphic media, photo illustration and 3D animation.

The winners of each category, receiving a $250 prize, are:

• Graphic Media: Gabriel Veit of Austin, Texas, a student at Texas School for the Deaf, for The Wind.
• Photo Illustration: Zee Grant of Denver, Colo., a student at Rocky Mountain Deaf School, for Snow Life.
• 3D Animation: Connor Switenky of Frederick, Md., a student at Maryland School for the Deaf, for Phantasma.

The runners-up were:

• Graphic Media: Jeni Kim of Charleston, S.C., a student at Charleston County School of the Arts, for Color of Silence.
• Photo Illustration: Samantha Suarez of Jacksonville, Fla., a student at Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, for No Matter What’s Inside, and Nydia Cooper of St. James, La., a student at Ascension Catholic High School, for The River Meets Bayou.

Honorable mentions were:

• Interactive Media: Denali Thorn of Indianapolis, a student at Indiana School for the Deaf, for UFO Kid.
• Graphic Media: Grace Kominsky of Mount Wolf, Pa., a student at Northeastern Senior High School, for Instrumental Elephantal Semblance.

High school students in 10^th or 11^th grades won prizes for the RIT/NTID SpiRIT Writing Contest for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students. Winners have their choice of a scholarship and travel expenses to NTID’s Explore Your Future program, or a $500 cash prize.

Winners of the SpiRIT Writing Contest were Cecilia Gallagher of Bunker Hill, W.V., a student at Musselman High School, for Memories of the Fallen; and Hannah Van Sant of Sully, Iowa, a student at Pella Christian High School, for An Article Gone Awry. Honorable mentions were presented to Anna Kasper of St. Louis Park, Minn., a student at St. Louis Park High School, for Siddhartha’s Detachment; and Lillie Brown of Jacksonville, Ill., a student at Illinois School for the Deaf, for Sixteen is Way Too Young. Says Who?!