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May 20, 2007

Local student a standout in commercial arts

05/21/07 —

Ryan Reigner isn’t just setting his goals high. He’s making his dreams a reality and it’s just the beginning of a successful future.

As a senior at the Crawford County Area Vocational-Technical School, Reigner will be taking his talent to the Big Apple after receiving a prestigious honor that many students can only dream of.

Reigner, a commercial art student at the vo-tech, recently was accepted into Parsons The New School for Design in New York City, which is annually rated as one of the top art schools in the country — and he’ll attend on a full tuition scholarship of approximately $130,000.

The honor really hasn’t sunken in quite yet, according to Reigner, who plans on pursuing a career in graphic arts. “It’s pretty cool (getting accepted to Parsons) because it’s the number one art school in the country,” he said.

Reigner was also recently honored as Pennsylvania’s state-level winner of the Igniting Creative Energy Challenge.

The contest, an incentive-based educational opportunity for students in kindergarten through 12th grade throughout the United States and much of Canada, allows students to use their creative energy to develop entries in the categories of visual arts and music, language arts and science and technology.

Reigner competed in the ninth through 12th grade category, which is one of the three categories in the competition based on grade level. Three winners from each category and one teacher are selected as national winners, and they receive a trip to Hawaii.

Last year, Andrew Maruska, a senior studying commercial art at the vo-tech at the time, made the grand-prize journey to Hawaii after capturing the top national prize in his category. In 2004, the teacher of the commercial art lab, Dennis O’Laughlin, was selected for the Hawaii trip after two of his students finished among the top five in the national contest.

There are also 50 state winners. Selected as Pennsylvania’s top winner, Reigner earned a $1,000 check for the vo-tech and an MP3 player for himself. According to Reigner, more than 8,000 students participated in the competition.

For his project, Reigner devised a sculpture conveying how high sea levels will rise in the future. Emphasizing the impact of global warming, the sculpture included pillars that fill and empty with water to represent sea level changes.

However, Reigner’s sculpture proved to be more than just a creative project for a contest; it was also his key to the full tuition scholarship to Parsons, according to O’Laughlin. Reigner had initially earned a substantial scholarship of more than $100,000 to the school in January, but, with O’Laughlin’s encouragement, he didn’t stop there.

Qualifications for the school’s scholarships, according to O’Laughlin, are based on a combination of financial need, a grade point average of 3.8 or higher and a portfolio.

In March, Reigner was joined by O’Laughlin in a trip to New York City for an interview with a Parsons’ admissions director. After a review of Reigner’s winning project, the deal was sealed.

According to Reigner, the opportunities available at vo-tech paved his path to success. “If I hadn’t come to vo-tech, there would be no way I’d be at this level as an artist,” he said. “It’s such an opportunity to come here and do the things I have. I think it has prepared me monstrously. A lot of that credit goes to Mr. O’Laughlin because he’s put in a lot of time.”

However, according to O’Laughlin, dedication and hard work are the main reasons for Reigner’s success. “He’s such an amazing person,” O’Laughlin said. “He’s a kid that’s incredibly devoted and I’m going to miss him a lot. He made the most of his time here. Ryan took the torch and is passing it on (to other students at vo-tech).”



Jamie Musick can be reached at 724-6370 or by e-mail at jmusick@meadvilletribune.com.

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