Sophomore Jerome Alton was awarded first place from the Glendale Unified School District earlier this month for his art submission in the Bob Hope Airport 2015 Student Art Tower Banner Contest. Alton is a student in Nyrie Ghairbian’s Advanced Design 3-4 class.

The Tower Banner Contest occurs every year and is open to all high school students from Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena Unified School Districts. This year, students were supposed to create their artwork based on the theme “Great Moments in Flight.”

Out of 342 entries from all three school districts, each school district narrowed their artwork down to three banners. Then the arts and culture commission chose the first place winners from each school district. This year, each school district will receive $22,500 from this contest to improve their art programs.

“My banner was pretty cool,” Alton said. “I made it on Photoshop, and it was a geometric rendering of a plane carrying a spaceship. I find it pretty neat how my artwork is going to be hanging on the tower from June to August.”

First place winners will also receive $300. Aside from winning money, the winning artwork is also put up for display at the Bob Hope Airport terminal tower for a period of three months, rotating between the three school districts.