Whiz Kid: Allison Kienzle

Whiz Kid: Allison Kienzle, 18

School: Avon High School

Accomplishment: Kienzle won second place in The Third Annual High School Art Contest hosted by Fairview Hospital and the Community West Foundation during the week of March 22.

Key to Awesomeness: Kienzle's art project was of a child crying out for cancer prevention.

“I made a person out of words, and the words were symptoms of complications of second-hand smoke,” Kienzle said.

Avon High School teachers chose Kienzle's Photoshop poster, among others' projects, to submit to the art contest, in which seven local high schools participated.

Kienzle said she was surprised she won second place. “They said mine was strong and had a clear message.”

She plans to study graphic design in college and dreams of working in advertising and marketing. Her artistic inspiration comes not just from making people happy, but also making people think.

Kienzle encouraged fellow artists to “just put your mind to it, take your time, work hard, and think about what you want to do and how to say it in the best way.”