It is an opportunity for any high school seniors willing to come to Louisiana Tech’s School of Art, said Jonathan Donehoo, director of the School of Art. “This was established several years ago in effort to attract students to our program,” he said. “The secondary purpose of the scholarships was to let other people know we exist and to encourage their students to come to Tech.” Applicants from all over the country sent pieces to the 12th annual Freshmen Art Tuition Scholarship competition, which were judged by the Tech art faculty and later placed as top winners. Isabella Sertuche from Atlanta, Texas, won first place and received $3,500 in scholarship money for her entry. Other students who were also awarded received $2,000 or $2,500 for the art pieces. Word is spread around when faculty members, who are part of the Louisiana Art Education Association, attend an annual convention, post it on the website and send emails to teachers around the country. “We have basically three concentrations in our art program, and that’s studio, photography and communication design,” Donehoo said. “We asked students to send their pieces in the those types of works.” Donehoo said Shakespeare is the theme every year because every high school student has read some sort of Shakespearean work. “We are not trying to make it difficult,” Donehoo said. “We are just trying to get people to participate, and they know the reward is pretty handsome.” Donehoo said this competition is the perfect chance to get scholarship money for anyone who wants to major in art. “I think it’s a very good opportunity for people leaning towards being an art major to receive a nice scholarship,” Donehoo said. “We hope to do it every year.” Donehoo said the word continues to spread and hopes new students will send in works for next year’s event. “It’s a shame about how many freshman we ask if they have heard about the competition, and it is amazing how many did not know about it,” Donehoo said. “It’s a shame they do not know about this opportunity.” Besides Sertuche , other students who won scholarships are as follows: — $2,500: Christopher Davis of Shreveport, Lilla Jimmerson of Ruston and Bailey Semmens of Meadow Vista, Calif. — $2,000: Anne Theroit of Sarepta and Micahla Wilson of Haughton Written by Derek J. Amaya