Phoenix Challenge high school flexo competition winners announced

After two and a half days of competition at the 2011 International Phoenix Challenge High School Flexo Competition, first-place was awarded along with USD $1,000 scholarships to Sharon Mai and Chong Wang. The team is from Gordon Graydon Memorial Secondary School, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The duo were declared the winners of the 14th annual international competition which took place at the Harper National Flexographic Center at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, North Carolina in early April.  

The pair won the first place award by earning this year's highest combined scores in the contest's five exams: written knowledge, math, pre-press proficiency, press operation and platemaking. In addition to the two $1,000 Phoenix Challenge Foundation Scholarships, the winning team took home the 2011 Harper Flexo High School of the Year trophy cup, for display at its school.   

Other top students excelled in all aspects of the competition. Second place went to Li-Anne Chang and Elina Shafigu Lina, also from Gordon Graydon Memorial Secondary School. Third place went to Amber Peet and Monica Manalo of Bergen County Technical School in New Jersey.   

The competition was stiff among top performers from all over North America. A total of thirteen teams participated, which has grown year over year since the Phoenix Challenge high school program began back in 1998.    

Bettylyn Krafft said: ‘The rivalry gets more challenging every year as the best high school students in the United States and Canada train and prepare tenaciously for this flexographic competition, with all eyes on the top awards.’ The scholarships are awarded to the top placing students, fulfilling the mission of the Phoenix Challenge Foundation.

Pictured l-r: Peter Belanger (instructor), Sharon Mai and Chong Wang of Gordon Graydon Memorial Secondary School pose with Bettylyn Krafft of the Phoenix Challenge Foundation

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