Sky Valley Education Center senior takes third in Space Foundation art contest

Sky Valley Education Center 12th-grader Haley Amenn has earned third place in the sixth annual Space Foundation International Student Art Contest in the age 17-18 category for her piece, "Spaceman Tom,GÇ¥ which she drew separately by hand and then compiled in Photoshop. The piece is of an astronaut doing a "spacewalk.GÇ¥

"His spacesuit is designed after the one that Ed White wore during his spacewalk,GÇ¥ said Amenn in a Monroe Public Schools news release. White was the first American to walk in space in 1965.

The daughter of Robert and Joan Amenn, the high school senior was one of 25 winners choses from more than 3,883 entries spanning 40 countries.

Amenn began attending SVEC in sixth grade, and credits art teacher Michelle Taylor for giving her guidance and her mother for influencing her.

"My mom was really interested in animation when she was going to college,GÇ¥ Amenn said, "so a lot of her drawings inspired me as a kid.GÇ¥

After SVEC, Amenn plans to spend a year at the Gage Academy of Art in Seattle and then attend college with the goal of having a career in film or comics.

For her third-place win, Amenn will receive a ribbon, certificate, an art kit, a story in the Space Watch newsletter and autograph from U.S. astronaut Leroy Chiao.

Her piece and other winning entries can be viewed at www.art.spacefoundation.org and later at the 32nd Space Symposium in April and then at the Space Foundation World Headquarters in Colorado Springs.