PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

Washoe County School District K-12 Students Showcase Artistic Creativity on Local Taxi-Tops

Reno, Nev. (AUGUST 26, 2020) – Today the EDAWN Foundation and the Washoe County School District (WCSD) announced the ten winning schools in the 6th Annual Taxi-Top Design Competition.

Students were asked to create a taxi-top design representing “why the Greater Reno-Sparks region and Northern Nevada is a great place to live, work and play.” The three first-place winning designs, as seen below, will be displayed on Whittlesea taxis for a year and will receive $500 to offset the cost of much-needed classroom art supplies. One winner was selected from each category of school; high school, middle school, and elementary.

Additionally, the EDAWN Foundation members expanded the contest last year to include awarding the top seven runners up designs with $500 for their art classrooms. The seven “Runners Up” art entries can be seen here.

The ten winning designs included students from Huffaker Elementary, Pleasant Valley Elementary, Sparks Middle School, Coral Academy of Science, Swope Middle School, Damonte High School, Academy of Arts, Careers and Technology, Hug High School and North Valleys High School.

Winners were selected by members of the Arts Community and the EDAWN Foundation. Students, teachers, family and community guests attended the press conference award ceremony, held at the Washoe County School District Administration building in Reno.

Congratulations to all the students who participated in this year’s competition with special recognition to the following first-place winning schools:

Damonte High School – Haven Flores

  • A beautiful design utilizing watercolors to reflect the waters of the Truckee River!

Sparks Middle School – Shahriya Jhomo

  • A lovely depiction of Lake Tahoe showing breadth of experience to be found!

Huffaker Elementary – Reese Hansen

  • Dynamic colors host a representation of the annual balloon races!

“I’m so proud of our students who submitted their artwork for the Taxi-Top competition this year,” said WCSD Superintendent Dr. Kristen McNeill. “They are so artistic, and created some beautiful designs. I look forward to this event each year, and appreciate our partnership with EDAWN that makes this opportunity possible for our students.”

“For six years taxi tops throughout our region have displayed art created by students K – 12 and our residents’ response has been overwhelmingly positive,” said spokesperson and judge, Beth Macmillan. “EDAWN created the Taxi Top campaign as a way to showcase our young people’s creativity and their artistic interpretations of our region. As a result of this project, many of our area schools receive additional funds for their arts programs. Students are encouraged to explore and celebrate their creativity, which they may then see displayed throughout the community. The selection process is difficult due to the wide variety and outstanding quality of the many submissions received. The arts are a dynamic economic driver which significantly increase our overall quality of life and make Truckee Meadows an even better place to live, work and raise a family.”

About the EDAWN Foundation:  The EDAWN Foundation is a private, non-profit 501c3, founded by the EDAWN Board to educate visitors, businesses and local citizens about economic advancement, growth and regional economic development opportunities.  For more information, or to support the taxi-top campaign visit www.edawn.org.

Contact: Rae McElroy, mcelroy@edawn.org, 775.829.3727  

About Washoe County School District: The Washoe County School District includes the Reno/Sparks metropolitan area, Incline Village, Gerlach, and Wadsworth, Nevada. The District provides each of its 64,000 students with a superior education in a safe and challenging environment and is committed to graduate every child career and college ready. For more information visit: www.washoeschools.net. Follow us on Twitter at @WCSDTweet.