Knox High School continues to be a leader in graphic arts education. This past spring, Knox teams placed first and fifth at a national flexography competition known as the Phoenix Challenge. The Knox School Board had the chance to meet with the winning team on Monday.
Students Arryana Posey and Jane Trosper explained the flexo process, noting that it’s often used in the printing of packaging labels. Each year, the three-day Phoenix Challenge brings high schoolers to North Carolina for a chance to test their skills in different flexo-related areas. Students work on the layout and run the press according to a specific set of directions, but they’s also a math portion and a written test on the history of flexo.
During the process, the students said they had the chance to talk with a bunch of people in the industry. Posey and Trosper each got a $1,000 scholarship for being on the winning team, while all four Knox students who competed obtained their flexo certifications.
Those skills seem to be in-demand. Teacher Jeff Sullivan told the school board that the flexo industry has been growing by about eight percent a year for the last 10 years. Teacher Maria Sullivan said the Phoenix Challenge Corporation tries to fill the demand for workers by covering almost the entire cost of students’ trips to the annual competition. Jeff Sullivan said Knox is one of only three schools in Indiana to be nationally certified and several visitors have told him that its Graphic Arts Department is the best in the state.
