Two Edwardsburg High School students have won a T-shirt design contest.
The T-shirt contest, which was open to Edwardsburg High School students, was used to determine the design of Edwardsburg’s third annual Run Eddie Run 5K. The run is sponsored by the Edwardsburg Fire Auxiliary.
The winning design is a collaboration between the designs of 10th graders Lauren Rakowski and Mikia Jankoviak. The final design features an “old-timey” version of the Edwardsburg mascot running on a track, leaving flames and the phrase “Back on Track” behind him.
Rakowski, who loves art and hopes to one day have a career in the field, said she came up with the design in less than a weekend.
“I didn’t really think it would actually win,” Rakowski said. “I’m pretty surprised and happy.”
Edwardsburg Intermediate School teacher Deb Williams sat on the committee that chose the T-shirt design. She said Rakowski and Jankoviak’s design was a clear winner out of the dozen or so entries in the contest.
“We liked how they incorporated the aspects we were looking for with the fire department,” Williams said.
This is the first year that a student-made design will be featured on the 5K shirts. The first year of the 5K, a T-shirt printing company designed the shirts and last year, a local artist created the design.
“I was surprised. I didn’t think we would have many [student] designs to choose from, but we really had a lot,” 5K director Karen Harris said. “A lot of them were really well done.”
The committee that chose the winners from the pool of student entries combined elements from Rakowski and Jankoviak’s designs to create this year’s T-shirt, Harris said.
“We were like, ‘we like this from [Janoviak’s entry], and we like this from [Rakowski’s entry],’” Harris said. “So we combined the two and tried to create a design that way.”
The Run Eddie Run 5K will take place at 8 a.m. July 22 at Edwardsburg High School’s Leo Hoffman Field. The advance registration cost of $20 will include a shirt featuring Rakowski and Jankoviak’s design. To receive a shirt, participants must register by July 1. Registration on the day of the event will be $25.
Proceeds from the 5K will benefit the Edwardsburg Public Schools Foundation and the Edwardsburg Fire Auxiliary. The Edwardsburg Public Schools Foundation provides scholarships to graduating seniors, as well as grants for teachers. The Edwardsburg Fire Auxiliary supports the Edwardsburg Fire Department volunteer firefighters both on fire scenes by bringing food and water and through fundraising efforts.
Harris is optimistic about this year’s Run Eddie Run 5K and is excited to see the student designed shirt in action.
“We’ve exceeded the number of runners and sponsors than we initially thought we were going to do,” Harris said. “It’s been successful.”
For more information about the event, contact Harris at kbend2@aol.com.