Putting their creative thoughts into art garnered 16 Calgary youth the distinction of the seeing their drawings on Calgary Transit youth bus passes for the next year.
Two students thought up the idea to revamp the look of transit youth passes and the idea caught on like wildfire, according to the Child & Youth Friendly Calgary’s program director.
“It was a no-brainer and everyone jumped on board right away — it took no convincing,” Andrew Phung said. “The new designs will resonate with other youth in the city.”
More than 260 submissions from youth between Grades 1 and 12 were whittled down the top 16 chosen by transit drivers, youth at the Calgary Young Offenders Centre and other city youth, he added.
Ald. Joe Ceci applauded the initiative and was excited to see the new designs in action.
“The future of Calgary lies with its youth and we are fortunate to have some extremely talented young people in our city,” Ceci said, adding there is potential for the initiative to extend beyond the planned December 2010 date.
“Things like this, once they get started, they tend to start steamrolling.”
Grade 12 McNally student and artist Kyla Evans couldn’t be happier that her artwork was one of the chosen ones.
“I was surprised but I am so excited my work will be out there. I love drawing and art and it’s actually what I want to pursue after school,” she said.
