Friday began as a normal school day for George Mason High School junior Worachet ‘Boon’ Sakprayoonpong. The 16-year-old student had no idea he was about to become the center of every student’s attention during a school pep rally held that day.
Friday began as a normal school day for George Mason High School junior Worachet ‘Boon’ Sakprayoonpong. The 16-year-old student had no idea he was about to become the center of every student’s attention during a school pep rally held that day.
Giant Food and It’s Academic announced at the beginning of the pep rally that Sakprayoonpong was the winner of the It’s Academic 50th Anniversary Reusable Bag Design Contest.
“We thought, ‘What can we do to celebrate It’s Academic’s 50th anniversary in a unique way?’ Reusable bags are popular, and trendy for the way they look,” said Manager of Public & Community Relations for Giant Food Jamie Miller.
Miller said that the contest was a way to reach out to the community, and to get them involved with the TV show’s 50th anniversary. It’s Academic has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Record as the longest-running TV quiz show in the world, and Giant Food has been a sponsor of the show since 1967.
The contest was open to high school students in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. More than 250 designs were submitted. Sakprayoonpong’s design will be printed on reusable bags that will be sold in Giant stores in the spring.
“It’s the first time that we did something focused on arts,” It’s Academic Producer Susan Altman said. “It’s a nice feeling to recognize their work, and make them feel appreciated for what they did.”
Sakprayoonpong also received a $1,500 scholarship check for the winning design. Second and third place designers will receive $750 and $500 cash scholarships respectively.
For the contest, designs had to incorporate three elements — Giant’s colors, the program title, It’s Academic, and a reference to the 50th anniversary.
“My inspiration came from windows and comic strips,” Sakprayoonpong said. “Each panel represents one thing.”
Sakprayoonpong used Photoshop to create the winning design. He worked on the design for many weeks, but waited until the last minute to submit his design, according to his father, Jaqqrit Sakprayoonpong.
“He is talented, but very modest,” his father said.
Sakprayoonpong has designed T-shirts and bottles for his peers at Mason, but never won a contest for his designs before.
“I wanted to challenge myself,” Sakprayoonpong said. “I’ve been practicing by myself for two years.”
Sakprayoonpong enjoys drawing and plans to pursue a career in arts.
