Update on the Vans Shoes Art Competition-- Top 5!

I wanted to post a follow up blog post on the Hixson High School Art students and their shoes that were in the Vans shoes competition.

Results came out this past Monday, May 7th, and were released publicly at 3pm EST (12pm PST).  I was waiting to hear from my kiddo any minute that afternoon.  

As I was heading down the road to check out some local boutique stores with my step daughter and her mom, the call came.  We all listened as Charlie told us that Hixson High made it into the top 5!  What a great accomplishment!  From 500 entries to 50 to the top 5.  They will receive $10,000 for their art program.  The grand prize winner is not announced.  They will be surprised next week by the company.  I'm still hopeful it could be us.  We'll see.  It will be exciting for any of these 5 schools.  (You can see which ones they are on the picture below.)

I am so proud of those students and their art teacher, Katie Claiborne.  Here is what Katie posted on Monday afternoon, May 7th on social media:

"A team of students from Hixson High School has earned a Top 5 finalist spot in the nationwide Vans™ Custom Culture competition and is still in the running to win the grand prize. This is a result of the wonderful designs they submitted to Vans™ and the massive community support they received in the public voting stage of the competition. At this stage of the competition, it is certain that they have won $10,000 for their art department. The winner of the grand prize will receive a surprise visit from the Vans™ Custom Culture Team next week. Vans™ will present the grand prize winning school with a check for $75,000 for their art department and throw a party for the whole school.
The entries they created are two pairs of Vans™ shoes. Vans™ sends out shoes to all the participants, requesting them to create designs fitting two separate prompts. This year’s themes are “Local Flavor” and “Off the Wall”.
For Local Flavor, the Hixson High students decided to highlight iconic sights and symbols of the Greater Chattanooga area. These shoes represent Ruby Falls, Rock City, the Incline Railway, the Choo Choo, Point Park, and cultural icons like the Delta Queen and the Cherokee water spider. The Tennessee River can also be seen coursing over both shoes, bringing them together.
In the Off the Wall design, students built platforms to create a cavern underneath. The cave is lit by fairy lights, making the cast resin crystals gleam. Mushrooms dot the subterranean landscape, and a monster defends his treasures. Moss encircles the trim of the shoes, providing a smooth transition from top to bottom. Living plants are placed inside the shoes, while artificial sprouts pop up near the toe.
Hixson High would like to thank everyone in the community for their support in sharing their story and voting over the past two weeks. Congratulations to the students who worked on the custom shoe designs: Charlie Dickerson, Alia Smith, Michaela Roberts, Logan Summers, Addison Flannigan, Luke Pfennig, Jade Sharp, Amy Gonzales, Sarah Bargerstock, Josh Green, Tori Gifford, Josalyn Salter, Suhani Patel, Amanda Lin, and Devin Goforth."

You can learn more about the competition by visiting the Vans culture competition website, but you aren't able to see the top 5 shoes at this point.  That would be neat.  Maybe that will be possible at some point.

To any and all who voted for the Hixson High shoes and helped make them reach the top 5, I want to say "THANK YOU!"

Hixson High Art has been really rocking it out this year with quite a few accomplishments and this competition is going to help them continue the great path they are on!

Go Wildcats!

Debra

P.S.  If you didn't see my first post on the shoes or the pictures of the shoes, you can click here to read it and see the shoes:  April 18, 2018-- Art Competition-- VOTING begins Monday, April 23rd

Art Competition-- VOTING begins Monday, April 23rd

Art students at Hixson High School worked long hours on two pairs of shoes for a recent Vans shoes competition.  They were one group of 500 competitors.  Just this week we learned that they are in the top 50! This is super news.  Beginning April 23rd, the public has the opportunity to vote for their favorite shoes.  The top 5 winners get some pretty cool stuff.

In the words of Katie Claiborne, one of the art teachers at Hixson High School, from her Facebook post on April 18:

"My art students at Hixson High made it into the top 50 in the Vans Custom Culture Competition. This means that they are in the running to win $75,000 for the art department plus a visit from Vans and a cookout and concert for the whole school! What we need now is your help voting for our project. Our only hope of winning is if you and EVERYONE YOU KNOW vote for us!!!! Voting is open from April 23 to May 4. You are allowed to cast ONE VOTE PER DAY at vans.com/customculture until voting ends at 5pm PST/8pm EST on May 4. The only catch is you can not offer anyone anything in exchange for their vote. Please please please share this. Please vote every day. We are a public high school and there is never enough funding for the arts, but this would open a ton of doors for these students. Please vote and help these students get the recognition they deserve for their hard work! #VansCustomCulture"

You may wonder why I am super excited to promote Hixson High School and their art program.

My teenager, Charlie, is a junior there this year and had a significant role in this project.  Charlie loves art, is active in the art club at the high school, and plans to pursue art and design in higher education.

The art students worked super hard on both pairs of shoes and their work paid off to get them in the top 50.  It is our turn to get them in the top 5.

The pictures below were taken by one of the art students, Addison Flanigan.  The photography itself is art and Addison did a great job.  

Remember, you can vote DAILY from April 23rd to May 4th.

Here are the pictures of the shoes from Hixson High school: (cave shoes and Chattanooga scenes shoes)

Thanks for checking out these shoes!  I hope you'll remember to vote.

I don't know if Vans will be making any of the shoes, but I would sure like a pair of the Chattanooga shoes.  They are cool.  I adore the cave shoes too, but I don't think they are made to walk around in.  However, they would make for a super nightlight feature in a room.

I am also looking forward to seeing what the other 49 competitors came up with because I imagine there are some pretty cool looking shoes out there.  My vote is going to Hixson High School!

Go Wildcats!

Debra
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Update:

An article in the Chattanoogan.com on April 21 offers a great description of the shoes: Hixson High Competes To Win $75,000 For Its Art Department

An article in Times Free Press.com on April 23-- Hixson High team advances in Vans competition for $75,000

Vote here!

October 1.... a year of walking.

Mizuno shoes, October 1, 2013

Today marks a year when I began a new journey.  A literal journey.  The journey of walking.  Last year on October 1, a Tuesday, my day changed and instead of doing one thing, I ended up buying a new pair of shoes.  Running/walking shoes.  I hadn't had a new pair of shoes for walking in decades.  But something inside me had that "rafiki voice" (you know, from The Lion King) saying 'it is time'.

Because I was near Front Runner, I went in, tried on shoes, and bought a pair.  I bought a cool pair of Mizuno shoes.  LOVED THEM.  I started walking the very next day.  At first first I walked about a mile a day.  Sometimes a mile and a half.

I mentioned at TaeKwonDo class that I was going to start walking every day and one of my workout partners there said she would be interested in joining me.  So, off we went.  

I used "map my hike" as an application at first, but then settled on Runkeeper to track my progress and goals.

I walked about 4-5 days a week.  Even in the winter.  I bought a head covering/face mask to keep my head warm in the winter.

 

I set goals of mileage per month.  At some point I decided it would be neat to do a 5K since I had never done one before.  So, I found one that fit my schedule (Operation Outreach) and started preparing for it.  I was primarily a walker, but prepared some to run during that race too.

I have worked my way up to 2, 3, 4, and sometimes 5 miles on a walk.  But the 5 mile walk is a rare one as there are other things to do in a day too.

Not counting the miles I did prior to using Runkeeper starting October 15, I have walked 494 miles.  Counting the approximate miles from October 2 when I started walking, that makes somewhere over 500 miles this past year.  Neat!

The shoes?  Well, the Mizuno shoes were awesome, but they got a tear (that appeared out of nowhere for no apparent reason) in the top part of the shoe about 3 months after purchase and I took them back.  Front Runner replaced them.  Then about 3 months after that, a similar tear on both shoes.  Weird. Other people had come back with similar issues.  This time I had to switch to a different shoe.  I did.  Asics.  Love them.  It took me a while to get used to them, but I have worn out the soles and am in need of a new pair.

tiny hole that appeared

the asics gel nimbus shoe that I went with last and still have (no holes, just worn out soles)

What has all this walking been for me?  Done for me?  It gives me some quiet time.  It gets me out and moving.  It gets me out in creation some days if I'm on a trail or walking one of the more natural walking areas.  It has helped me explore my contemplative photography as I've taken many photographs on my walks this past year. (2nd photography book)

The exercise has been beneficial.  Whether I'm walking by myself or with others, the thought processing time has been beneficial.

I have since found articles on the benefits of walking and how it creates space for the mind to be creative.  Neat.   Here is one article that talks about how walking boosts creative thinking.

I didn't start walking to accomplish anything, really.  I had no idea it would lead to a 5K or bring out contemplative photography or even help me lose weight over the year.  I felt the nudge inside to start and do it and I obeyed.  It has been a blessing and benefit in my life.

What are you feeling nudged to do, to begin?  I encourage you to listen to that nudge and obey it. 

Nike advertising would say, "Just do it."  John Wesley would say: "O begin!"  (Though the John Wesley quote is more in reference to spiritual disciples of study, reading, Scripture, etc., it can be applied to any area that we are feeling nudged/called into.  Here is the quote: "O begin! Fix some part of every day for private exercises. You may acquire the taste which you have not: what is tedious at first, will afterwards be pleasant.") [For more about this quote and the context from which it came, check out this link.]

Blessings on your journey,

Debra