Highway billboard to feature student's art
04/23/02
Eich Intermediate School seventh-grader Lisa Wahlquist will probably not soon forget what happened at lunch Friday.
The Warren T. Eich student body packed into one of the school's quads at the start of lunch to see Lisa awarded the grand prize in Kaiser Permanente's "Don't Buy the Lie" anti-smoking contest.
Lisa's entry - a poster with a flat-lining heart monitor and the phrase "Don't put your life on the line" - was the one chosen among hundreds of entries from schools around the Sacramento area. A local graphic artist refined Lisa's concept, and the final image will be seen by thousands of motorists on billboards and smaller advertising boards around the region.
Dr. Rick Baker, a Davis pediatrician and Christa Ognissanti, Kaiser health education coordinator, presented Lisa with a $1,000 savings bond, a copy of the billboard ad and a Baskin-Robbins gift certificate.
Students chanted Lisa's name as she accepted the prizes.
Lisa was stunned by the announcement. She had not been told beforehand about the honor and was very surprised when Baker called her to the stage.
"Thanks for the honor," she told the prize presenters. "It feels great. It's an honor to be chosen."
She said her concept poster took about two days to complete. She and her classmates had some help from Eich art teacher Hildee Galvin.
Parents Pete and Laurie Wahlquist were on hand to see their daughter receive the prizes.
"We're thrilled and excited for her," Laurie Wahlquist said.
"It's great that they picked hers out of all of the entries," her father noted.
Eich Principal Ron Fischer was proud for Lisa as well.
"I'm very excited. This is really a big thing," he said.
Baker and Ognissanti also presented Eich's art department with a $150 check to purchase art supplies. Galvin, who oversaw the school's entries into the contest, said she was happy for Lisa.
"I'm looking to forward to seeing the billboard," she said.