Heart and sole: Foothill students advancing in national shoe design competition

The school, 800 College Drive, was named a top five finalist in the sixth annual Vans Custom Culture shoe designing contest May 12.

Students April Siglos, Cayleigh Miner, Catherine Swift, Shelby Baker and Aimee Perry are slated to represent the school at an awards ceremony June 9 in New York City courtesy of the shoe company.

If awarded first place, Foothill’s art program would receive $50,000 and the opportunity to see one of its designs produced and sold at Vans retail stores. The remaining four finalists are scheduled to receive $4,000.

“We competed against nearly 3,000 schools across the country, and we’re now in the top five,” said art teacher Sarah Plough. “My students worked on designing the shoes for a solid five weeks and even took them home over spring break. They really poured their heart and soul into these shoes.”

The students were required to design pairs of shoes for each contest category: art, music, action sports and local flavor. Students Daniel Di’Antonio and Elizabeth Marshall also assisted in the designing process.

The other top finalists include Carlsbad High School of Carlsbad, Calif.; Circleville High School of Circleville, Ohio; McCracken County High of Paducah, Ky., ; and Parker High School of Parker, S.D..

In addition to the ceremony, the students are invited to attend a full-day art class at Parsons School of Design and plan to visit the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, Museum of Modern Art, and Metropolitan Museum of Art.

“I’m really proud of my kids,” Plough said. “I’m also really happy that my seniors who have participated in the competition with me before finally got to experience some success before they graduate.”

For the past few years, Plough has used the Vans contest as a general class assignment. Using paper templates, the teens create custom designs that are later voted on by their peers and school staff. The four winning designs are then transferred onto a pair of shoes supplied by Vans, and Plough submits them to the contest.

“I think it’s good for students to think in terms other than pencil and paper. It gives them the opportunity to work on something three-dimensional,” Plough said. “We also participate in other local contests throughout the school year because it’s good for them to see their work out in the world. It bridges the gap between the school and the community.”

After entries were collected, Vans judged and identified the top 50 schools in the California, Southwest, Northwest, Southeast and Northeast regions. Plough said California was given its own region due to the number of schools that participate. Foothill was the only Nevada school selected in the top 50.

The public was then encouraged to vote online to support its favorite designs. To prevent cheating, Vans allowed only one vote per IP address.

“We were trying to get all the students to vote on campus, but since we were all on the same Wi-Fi, it only counted as one vote, so we had them using their phones,” Plough said. “They also voted when they went to Starbucks, the gym, anywhere with different Wi-Fi.”

Although Miner, 17, has been drawing since she was a child, she said she didn’t take art seriously until high school.

“I think it’s important for parents to let their kids experiment in art because that’s when you start finding yourself as a person,” She said. “I took Art I as sort of a filler class my freshman year, and I ended up learning and growing a lot from it.”

Inspired by Plough, Miner said she plans to go to college for art and hopes to become an art teacher.

“I’ve never had a teacher that taught me as well as (Plough),” she said. “She’s awesome. Everyone learns something in her class, and we’re thankful for the opportunities she’s given us.”

Journeys retail company also is set to offer an additional $15,000 for the best display of the local flavor category.

For more information, visit foothillhenderson.com or vans.com/customculture.

To reach Henderson View reporter Caitlyn Belcher, email cbelcher@viewnews.com or call 702-383-0403. Find her on twitter: @caitlynbelcher.