Three Pasadena High School Students Win State Poster Design Contest

Congratulations to Andrew Adams, Vazken Avetissian, and Denny Ayard, 1st place winners of this year's Young Worker Safety Poster Contest, sponsored by the Labor Occupational Health Program at UC Berkeley, in connection with the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR).

Under the guidance of Pasadena High School’s (PHS) Photography teacher Michael Kluch and Chemistry teacher Benjamin Lambert, the three students collaborated to create the winning graphics for this year’s contest.

Gilbert Barraza, PHS Principal, spoke enthusiastically of yet another feather in the cap of the academic clime at Pasadena High School.

“I am very proud of Andrew, Vazken and Denny. They represent the brilliant creativity of Pasadena students. Their collective work will engage teenagers across California on the importance of student workers and their legal rights. Their art work will continue to build the industrial relations department on health and safety with compensation. The labor Commissioner, Julie Su, is very proud of their work and, more importantly, their opinion and perspective on the teenage workforce learning to get the safety habits out to the mainstream. Equally important, I am proud of Mr. Lambert and Mr. Kluch for helping develop the students’ creativity.”

California Labor Commissioner, Julie A. Su based in San Francisco, and Priscilla A. Garcia, U.S. Department of Labor District Director, based in West Covina, traveled to Pasadena High School on May 16 to recognize the accomplishments of the three students.

Ms. Su, the first Asian American Labor Commissioner, commented on the students' achievement.

"It was an honor for me to meet the students and celebrate their accomplishments.  It was especially gratifying to be able to do this in front of their peers at Pasadena High School, and to see the energy that young people have when given the opportunity to learn about and take steps to educate themselves and others about their rights in the workplace," Su said.

The winning safety poster will be distributed statewide to schools, libraries and other teen venues to raise public awareness, and the first place video PSA will be distributed to California television stations, teen web sites and featured on movie screens at theaters located in the winner’s community, according to details contained within the DIR press release.

The poster and more information about the contest and the organization is available at www.YoungWorkers.org .

According to their website, the goal of the “California Resource Network for Young Worker Health and Safety" program is to help prevent California's young workers from being injured or killed on the job.”

The organization also promotes Safe Jobs for Youth Month every May, an event that is tied to the poster contest.