On May 21, The Altoona Curve will hold its annual Mental Health Awareness game.
The gates will open at 5 p.m. and the game will begin at 6 p.m. This is the second year students had the chance to enter in shirt designs for the game. The Curve had over 30 t-shirt designs submitted this year. Junior Hayden Eichenlaub won this year’s competition.
This is the first time Eichenlaub has entered a design competition. He is currently enrolled in Graphic Design at the Greater Altoona Career and Technology Center (GACTC).
Eichenlaub has been at the CTC since his freshman year, but he hadn’t always planned to be in Graphic Design classes.
“I joined CTC for Engineering Design Technologies for freshman year, then transferred to graphic design for my sophomore, junior, and later, senior year,” Eichenlaub said.
Eichenlaub focused on graphic design, where he bettered his skills within his classroom despite joining later.
“Hayden used his graphic design skills to address the goal of raising awareness for mental health,” GACTC Graphic Design Instructor Apryl Sparr said. “His design shows an understanding of how to combine visual elements and messaging in a way that is clear and appropriate for the theme.”
While the intention of the game is to raise awareness for mental health, Eichenlaub takes a personal stance with the event as he has close friends and family that struggle
“I know friends and family who struggle with mental health, and this topic is extremely important to me,” Eichenlaub said. “So I really wanted to do my best in it because this topic means a lot to me, and I want to help anyone who needs it. I chose the semicolon because its a symbol for suicide survial.”
