ALTON - If you’ve seen the posters advertising the 106th Alton Halloween Parade around town, then you already know the work of Alton High School sophomore Audrey Hunter.
Every year, Alton High School (AHS) students can compete in a contest to design the parade poster. The East End Improvement Association, an Alton nonprofit that sponsors the parade, chooses the winner and plasters posters all over town. AHS career and technical education teacher Lexa Browning coordinates the contest and said Alton students have been designing the posters for at least 25 years.
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“[The students] get to use their creativity and produce all these lovely posters, and it’s exciting every year to see the different concepts the kids come up with,” she added. “We’ve gone from doing them almost completely by hand to now doing them on the computer, or a combination thereof. It’s a fun project.”
Browning teaches graphic communications classes, which is how she knows Hunter’s work. According to her teacher, this definitely won’t be the last time Hunter receives well-deserved recognition for her designs.
“Audrey is amazingly talented,” Browning said. “She came in with her mom yesterday for parent-teacher conferences, and her mom said, ‘Finally, your talent is being realized.’ She’s really effortless with what she does. She’s a really good designer.”
While Browning isn’t sure what Hunter plans to do after high school, she has full confidence that she will be successful. In the meantime, it’s been exciting for Hunter and her classmates to see the posters across town.
Browning noted that the poster contest helps bring student work into the community. Not only do students get the opportunity to share their art, but they can also see the practical uses of design and graphic communications. As a career-focused teacher, this is a lesson she tries to emphasize.
“It’s really exciting for the kids,” Browning said. “They realize that their work has an impact outside of just me grading it.”
Check out Audrey Hunter’s posters around Alton, and visit RiverBender.com/events for more information about the 106th Alton Halloween Parade. Check out this article on RiverBender.com for details about additional Halloween celebrations in the Riverbend.
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