As of this year, Kilgore High School’s art department has earned the District of Distinction award! 

According to their website, District of Distinction is an annual recognition program created by Texas Art Education Association and run by the Visual Art Administrators of Texas to honor school districts that are leading the way in the visual arts. The Visual Art Administrators of Texas work towards recognizing districts with outstanding leadership in promoting the arts in their district and community. 

This was exciting news for our art program and everyone involved in it, considering it’s the first year they’ve received this award, but the art teachers were probably the most enthusiastic about it.

“My co-teacher called me while I was on vacation in the summer, and I was on a Greyhound bus. She told me the good news and I let out a very loud “Woooo hooooo!”, and everyone on the bus looked at me crazy,” said art teacher Savannah Griffith.

There are many different factors that go into whether or not an art program is chosen for this award. A few that our program meets are participating in community events and UIL competitions, but Griffith believes that the main reason they got this award was because of her fellow art teacher, Holly Harper.

“Mrs. Harper has worked very hard to ensure that our district was awarded the District of Distinction. Her love for this program and for this district is what got us this award. She pushes her students every single day to be their best and to bring their best,” Griffith said, “I am so proud of her hard work and determination to prove that Kilgore truly has it all, including super amazing and talented art students”