The inaugural CTElite awards ceremony, held at the Tyler ISD Career & Technology Center (CTC), was a resounding success as students, family members, and staff gathered to support participants and celebrate winners.
One standout achiever was Melinda Nguyen, a graphic design and 3-D modeling student, who clinched 1st prize for her outstanding proposal for a new entertainment venue in Tyler. Melinda’s logo design and other assets earned a perfect score from all judges, showcasing her talent and creativity.
“We challenged our teachers to finish strong at the end of the year,” Tyler ISD Executive Director of College and Career Dr. Kristen Walls said. “We have three programs that met that challenge to create the internal CTElite competition.”
The Practicum of Graphic Design students were tasked with crafting marketing components for a hypothetical new concert venue in Tyler. This challenge, requiring the design of a venue logo, a restaurant logo, an entertainment group logo, a promotional poster, and merchandise within a tight 4-day deadline, showcased the students’ creativity and skill under pressure.
In addition to graphic design, the AV Production competition tasked teams to create content around the theme “Unhealthy Fandom,” including the line “Promise not to freak out.”
The CTElite awards were made possible by the collaboration of Graphics Arts, 3D Modeling, and AV Production teachers under the guidance of Dr. Walls, with support from CTE Internship Coordinator Jessica Brown for community outreach. There were fourteen elite judges from the community who are experts in their fields. They worked anonymously using the scorecard to choose the winners.
CTElite, a fusion of Career & Technical Education with the word “Elite,” aims to engage students near the end of the year, provide connections with industry leaders, and offer real-world scenarios for learning. The program’s benefits include high-level student engagement, opportunities for internships, the creation of portfolio pieces, and the strengthening of student-teacher relationships.
Looking ahead, CTElite plans to expand its reach, including more CTE courses next year and extending its impact to other schools in the following years.
Winners in each category include:
Practicum of Graphic Design: 1st - Melinda Nguyen; 2nd - Christian Beggs,; 3rd RaQuelle Whitman
3D Modeling: 1st - Elijah Chaffin; 2nd - Alexander Edwards; 3rd - Antonio Thomas
AV Production Teams: 1st - DC Coss, Alexie Mendez, Mario Aguilar, and Evy Alvarez; 2nd - Alexa Allen, Steven Young, Marcus Donaldson, Grace Hudson, and Kaelyn Record; 3rd - William Brickle, Bryan Arellano, Derrick McFall, and James Alexander
For more information, contact Jennifer Hines at Jennifer.Hines@TylerISD.org.