Names in the News

Pictured above, the winning artworks of the 2023 NOAA Art Contest by Renaissance High School of the Arts students Kelly Hernandez (left) and Ashley Vasquez (right).

Several middle and high school students from the Long Beach Unified School District were recently announced as winners of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 2023 STEM Day Art Contest.

The contest is part of NOAA Day, an annual event held at the Aquarium of the Pacific, and encourages students to learn more about issues affecting the world’s oceans. “How Science Protects Our Ocean” was this year’s theme.

Winners from Group One (grades 6 to 9) were: first place, “Stop Rising Sea Levels” by Samantha Elder of Renaissance High School of the Arts; second place, “I Sea You” by Aubrey Catlin of Cubberley K-8 School; and tied for third place are, “Sea the Trouble” by Ariana Rocha and “The Rescue” by Matheus Gapeyev of Cubberley. 

Winners from Group Two (grades 10 to 12) were: first place, “PROJECT NOAA -  A Glimmer of Hope” by Kelly Hernandez of Renaissance; second place, “How Science Protects Our Ocean” by Janae Ramirez of Renaissance; and third place,  “Our Protector” by Ashley Vasquez of Renaissance.