Deerfield, Ill., May 23, 2024 — Walgreens awards high school students and teachers more than $25,000 in prize money in the 15th annual Expressions by Walgreens creative arts contest. Expressions by Walgreens is a free contest that gives teens a platform to creatively engage and share their feelings on any topic they choose. This year, common submission themes were the impact of social media, social justice, and mental health. Youth mental health is one of the US Surgeon General’s core priorities with one 2023 survey revealing that 87 percent of young people in the United States had suffered some mental health problem on a regular basis. Clinical psychologists call The Expressions Challenge an “excellent platform” that helps adolescents “face emotions, decrease anxiety and build confidence.”
The contest shows a record year in student entries with nearly an 80% increase from last year. Walgreens received close to 9,000 student submissions with entries coming from all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U. S. Virgin Islands in addition to nearly double the online votes for People’s Champs winners. Eligible entries are judged in four categories: visual arts, media arts, spoken word, and creative writing. Walgreens also recognizes and awards educators as Teacher Champions for going above and beyond with their support of students.
"It warms our hearts that our 15th Anniversary year of Expressions by Walgreens has been such a banner year. All the students who entered shared their voice through the art they created, and that’s exactly the intention of Expressions,” says Alethia Jackson, Senior Vice President of ESG and Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer at Walgreens Boots Alliance. “Our commitment to championing healthier communities is of critical importance to current and future generations. The high school years can often be filled with many pressures and distractions, and self-expression through art can be therapeutic in handling those pressures. Our overall mission is to reimagine how local healthcare improves societal health and well-being, and the Expressions Challenge helps us achieve that mission among our teens.”
View our compilation highlighting this year’s contest and participants here. The full list of winners follows:
Visual Arts
• First Place: (Lost Remembrance) Zeno P., Bergen County Academies, Hackensack, NJ
• Second Place: (Juvenile Witness) Soleil F., Osceola County School for the Arts, Kissimmee, FL
• Third Place: (September 20th) Kiara P., Escuela Especializada Central de Artes Visuales, Dorado, PR
• People’s Champ: (September 20th) Kiara P., Escuela Especializada Central de Artes Visuales, Dorado, PR
Media Arts
• First Place: (Frame) Chauncey V., James Campbell High School, Ewa Beach, Hawaii
• Second Place: (Anxious Love) Lilli N., Gorham High School, Gorham, ME
• Third Place: (Autism, my mental pet) Jayden A., Denton High School, Denton, TX
• People’s Champ: (Static Starvation) Emma G. and Emma S., Midwood High School, Brooklyn, NY
Spoken Word
• First Place: (The Question vs. The Statement) CarRyn G., Cass Technical High School, Detroit, MI
• Second Place: (Show Us What You Have Done) Sasmitha B., Solon High School, Solon, OH
• Third Place: (The Children of America) Amora S., Dekalb School of the Arts, Lithonia, GA
• People’s Champ: (Acceptance) Aiden F., Gorham High School, Gorham, ME
Creative Writing
• First Place: (Versatile or Violent?) Aliyah B., Dekalb School of the Arts, Scottdale, GA
• Second Place: (Home) Jae B., Sacred Heart Academy, Louisville, KY
• Third Place: (To You, My Memory) Sophia D., Pine-Richland High School, Gibsonia, PA
• People’s Champ: (A Two-Sided Sword) Fabiana H., Littleton High School, Littleton, CO
Teacher Champions
• Whitney Davis, CE King High School, Houston, TX
• Sheanna Eggers, Burnsville High School, Burnsville, MN
• Nicole Jacob Licht, DeKalb School of the Arts, Avondale Estates, GA
• Jonathan Webb, RFK - School for the Visual Arts and Humanities, Los Angeles, CA
About Expressions by Walgreens
Expressions was established by Walgreens to educate, empower and equip young people and their communities with insights and resources on issues impacting teens. Since 2009, Expressions by Walgreens has reached approximately one million high school students and awarded more than $400,000 in monetary prizes. More than 500 organizations, high schools, teachers and parents have participated in the program since its inception.
About Walgreens
Walgreens (www.walgreens.com) is included in the U.S. Retail Pharmacy and U.S. Healthcare segments of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (Nasdaq: WBA), an integrated healthcare, pharmacy and retail leader. True to its purpose of “more joyful lives through better health,” Walgreens has a more than 120-year heritage of caring for communities and providing trusted pharmacy services, and today is playing a greater role as an independent partner of choice offering healthcare services that improve care, lower costs, and help patients. Operating nearly 9,000 retail locations across the U.S. and Puerto Rico, Walgreens is proud to serve nearly 9 million customers and patients daily. The company’s pharmacists are playing a more critical role in healthcare than ever before, providing a wide range of pharmacy and healthcare services, including those that drive equitable access to care for some of the nation’s most underserved populations. Walgreens offers customers and patients a true omnichannel experience, with fully integrated physical and digital platforms designed to deliver high-quality products and healthcare services. Within the U.S. Healthcare segment, Walgreens portfolio also includes businesses in primary care, multi-specialty, post-acute care, urgent care, specialty pharmacy services, population health and provider enablement.
Media Contact
Kamara Turner
media@walgreens.com