For the past 19 years, students in Mrs. Bailey’s Digital Photography classes have entered their own photos in a highly popular photography contest hosted by the Alameda County Fair every summer; however, this past summer is extra special due to the newly created award that not only Granada, but also Mrs. Bailey herself, won.
“After the first year, when I found out it didn’t cost us anything to enter, and kids got ribbons and got comments back, I made it an assignment, and it’s just been an assignment ever since,” said Bailey.
Any student who enters the photography contest is placed into a category and has a chance to win either a first, second, or third-place ribbon. All of the first-place winners in a category compete against each other for a large rosette ribbon called “Best in Class,” which only one student can win.
Bailey also described other large awards that students can win as well. “In photography, there are 17 different classes, so those 17 ‘Best in Class’ winners compete against each other to try and win what is called ‘Best in Show’. There is another award that students can win that is called ‘Judges’ Favorite’, so if I can see a kid tries really hard but maybe didn’t have the skillsets they needed, they can receive the ‘Judges’ Favorite.’”
Students have the opportunity to win “special awards,” where they have the ability to win around $20 at a time. Each students receive two free tickets to the county fair, one for each entry season (fall and spring).
When asked about the average yearly success rate at the fair, Bailey claimed, “We do relatively well. For the most part, we walk away with a majority of the awards. My goal every year is to win the ‘Best in Show’ for each class (9/10 grade and 11/12 grade), and if I win all four of those, I feel like I’ve done my job for the year. Most years, I get three out of four if not four out of four.”
She strives to be the best example for her students in the contest by also entering an adult photography contest, which is a much larger competition.
Part of the state standard for art classes is to exhibit students’ artwork, and not only is the county fair a great opportunity for students to show their work for no charge, but it also gives the students a chance to compete, which Bailey hopes will encourage students to strive to do their best.
“The look on a student’s face when they open up their envelope in the fall and see that they’ve won something is an indescribable feeling,” says Bailey. “I’m trying to give kids that opportunity, in a safe and structured way, to get that feedback from a stranger and get recognized for what they do and what they are good at.”
The fair had a new award that was given out this year called the ‘Trailblazer Award’. This new award is given to the winning school, teacher, and student who had the most points. The points are determined by the number of wins they had at the fair that year (Special Award (10), Best of Show (7), Best of Class (5), Judge’s Favorite (3), 1st Place (1)).
This past summer, Granada won Top School and Top Teacher, winning a total of $1,500 for the school.
“I am hoping that because of this award, more teachers will be excited to get involved. There are endless opportunities for self-expression, and it costs us nothing, so I just wish the competitiveness would carry on to more things, especially those which can benefit the school,” Bailey said.
