HIGHLAND PARK : U.N. Will Display Student’s Design

A Franklin High School 10th-grade student’s second-place design in a countywide contest for a T-shirt conveying nonviolence will be displayed at the United Nations and at the world summit of international leaders in Denmark next month.

Jose Robles’ design depicts a gang member behind bars surrounded by the words, “Violence will get you nowhere. Just ask him.”

“You always hear that crime doesn’t pay, and I just changed the words around,” said Robles, 15. “Where I live, there is a lot of violence and I’m just trying to be a good citizen.”

It took Robles four days to create and draw the design, which was encouraged, he said, by his art teacher, Mary Ann Gregory.

The contest was sponsored by Blue Star, an international group dedicated to social responsibility, and the Los Angeles-based California Youth Theater. The groups plan to establish a Youth Theater Center in Hollywood and a national youth arts program.

About 40 students competed from Franklin High, said teacher Joyce Jones, who works with at-risk students.

“In support groups they are always mentioning violence, and I thought this would be an opportunity for them to express their feelings in a different way,” Jones said.

Students created a wide range of designs, with some using doves, the peace sign, guns and knives and abstract designs, Jones said.

The grand-prize winner, William Cuna, an 11th-grade student from Hollywood High School, will attend a U.N. ceremony in New York.

Robles won a tour of Paramount Studios and a T-shirt with the winning design.