Gordon Graydon High School Takes Esteemed Honor Across the Border

4/18/2005 - (Charlotte, NC)

Gordon Graydon Memorial Secondary School of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, has been selected the “2005 Harper Flexo High School of the Year” for its outstanding performance in the Eighth Annual International Phoenix Challenge Flexo Skills Competition, held this month on the Harper Campus of Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, NC. Margaret Harper Kluttz, Executive Vice President, Harper Corporation of America said, “An important part of our involvement in education at the high school level is to promote an awareness of flexography, to encourage young people to consider flexo as a viable career path, to recognize those who strive to perform well, and to assure a knowledgeable and skilled future workforce for our industry.”

Led by a determined and dynamic instructor, Peter Belanger, Graydon Gordon students Sean Coulson and Payam Rajabi won first place in the strenuous competition, which includes math exams, written tests, press operation, pre-press and plate making. The intense two-day event, chaired by Bettylyn Krafft of Krafft Printing Systems, Inc., is monitored, evaluated and judged by 22 experienced flexographic industry veterans, including both converters and suppliers.

Student Payam Rajabi also won the Phoenix Challenge t-shirt design contest with his unique design, which included a beautiful nine-inch representation of the Phoenix Challenge emblem in red, blue, black, purple and gold on the back of a black t-shirt; as well as the words “Phoenix Challenge Foundation” on the front, with a second emblem on the left sleeve. The t-shirt design competition is judged by the executive committee of the Phoenix Challenge Foundation.

Both winners were presented with a $1,000 Phoenix Challenge Foundation scholarship and the Harper Flexo High School Trophy Cup to display permanently at their school. Their names also will join those of previous winners, engraved on a special plaque which will hang at the Phoenix Challenge headquarters in Waxhaw, NC.

PHOTO ABOVE: Phoenix Challenge first-place winners Sean Coulson (L), and Payam Rajabi (R), accept the 2005 Harper Flexo High School of the Year award on behalf of Gordon Graydon Memorial Secondary School with their instructor, Peter Belanger (center).


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