Katelyn Schmidt, a 6th grade student at Mandan Middle School, Mandan, North Dakota, took a big step towards becoming an internationally recognized artist when she won a local competition sponsored by the Mandan Dacotah Lions Club, Mandan, North Dakota.

Katelyn’s poster has advanced through the Mandan Dacotah Club, District 5 NW and MD5 levels of competition and is now advancing to the international level, which is the final level in the contest.

Katelyn’s poster is one of more than 350,000 entries submitted worldwide in the annual Lions International Peace Poster Contest.  Lions Clubs International is sponsoring the program to emphasize the importance of world peace to young people everywhere.

“Peace is a feeling you get when all races of all nations come together to help each other when they need it,” the eleven year-old from Mandan said. The poster was selected for its originality, the choice of colors, the attention to detail and the story the poster tells of the theme “Children Know Peace” by a panel of judges made up of local artists.  The artists were astounded at the imagination of the young participants and the artwork they submitted.  Each poster received the appreciation of the judges for their excellent work.  The judging was held on November 25, 2011 at Regina, Saskatchewan. 

MD 5 Lions Opportunities for Youth Chairperson, Lion Maureen Meston-Pockett said she was impressed by the expression and creativity of the students from the six Districts in MD5. “It is obvious that these young people have strong ideas about what peace means to them. I’m so proud that we were able to provide them with the opportunity to share their visions.”

“All the Lions of MD 5 are cheering for Katelyn as her poster advances to the international competition, and we hope that her vision will ultimately be shared with others around the world,” Lion Meston-Pockett said.

One international grand prize winner and 23 merit award winners will be selected. The grand prize includes a cash award of US$2,500, plus a trip for the winner, two family members and the sponsoring club president to New York City, New York, USA for the awards ceremony at Lions Day with the United Nations. The 23 merit award winners will each receive a certificate and a cash award of US$500.

View past international grand prize winners at www.lionsclubs.org. Lions Clubs International is the world’s largest service club organization with nearly 1.3 million members in approximately 45,000 clubs in 205 countries and geographical areas around the world. Since 1917, Lions clubs have aided the blind and visually impaired and made a strong commitment to community service and serving youth throughout the world.

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