Morton Mustangs Posters Win Awards, Finish Year with Girls Soccer

May 28, 2015 | Filed under: Education,Press Releases,Sports | Posted by:
Alma Lara (Morton West, Class of 2017) with her design. “I wanted the Girls Soccer poster to look strong, because in the picture they represent ‘bold.’ They’re strong, they’re going for it.”

Alma Lara (Morton West, Class of 2017) with her design. “I wanted the Girls Soccer poster to look strong, because in the picture they represent ‘bold.’ They’re strong, they’re going for it.”

Berwyn/Cicero, Ill.– Morton High School wrapped up its award-winning promotional poster series with a release for the 2015 Varsity Girls Soccer team. Pictured on the poster are seniors Cynthia Gutierrez, Alyssa Garcia, Alexis Mondragon, Leslie Sibri, Ashley Castanon, Tania Paez, Shannon Fricke and Evelyn Castanon.

Students of the Morton West Graphic Arts Department photographed, designed and printed more than 1,000 posters over the course of the 2014-2015 school year for several of Morton’s sports and activities programs. The Morton Athletic Booster Club served as the lead sponsor, along with separate contributions from Diamond Graphics, the Morton Rugby Club and the Morton Music Parents Association.

The final poster was photographed by Zeltzin Alicia Vazquez (Morton West, Class of 2015) and designed by Alma Lara (Morton West, Class of 2017). “I wanted the Girls Soccer poster to look strong, because in the picture they represent ‘bold.’ They’re strong, they’re going for it,” Lara said.

Morton West Graphic Arts teacher Mike Battistoni supervised the student-led project that won awards at competitions at Triton College and Harper College this spring. “Time flew by this year,” Battistoni said. “It was a great learning experience for the students to see how much work really goes into producing a sports schedule.” Work has already begun on production for the 2015-2016 season.

“I’m impressed with how well our students did with a program we’ve never tried before,” Board of Education President Jeffry Pesek said. Students from classes in Career & Technical Education attended the May Board meeting and received recognition for their work.

“Athletes, graphic designers, photography students, even band members were involved. Morton is committed to bringing out the best in our children and sharing what students learn in the classroom with our entire community,” Pesek said.

The athletics and activities programs at Morton involve more than 2,100 athletes and 3,050 students in 90 extracurricular activities across the district. The budget for both programs represents 1.2 percent of District 201’s $110,166,444 overall budget for fiscal year 2015.

“It’s important for taxpayers to see how well the Board of Education manages its funds and how the investment in our children has benefits beyond our school buildings,” District Supt. Mike Kuzniewski said.

Sterling Morton High School District 201 educates more than 8,300 students from the communities of Berwyn, Cicero, Lyons, Stickney, Forest View and McCook. The members of the Board of Education are President Jeffry Pesek, Vice President Kasumba “Kal” Lwanga, Secretary Jessica Jaramillo-Flores, Mark Kraft, Margaret Kelly, Lido Manetti Jr. and Sandra Tomschin.

Michael Flaherty

Blogger, Writer at Illinois News Network
Michael Flaherty has been writing for Illinois News Network for the past year, first as a beat reporter for Morton 201 schools and now as a general contributor.

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