Gavin Sowada was recently named Royalton High School's April Artist of the Month. He is the son of Kimberly Behrens and Craig Sowada. From a very early age, Sowada had interests ranging from "Old Ford Trucks" to the outdoors. 

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"Drawing has been something that I have always done since around kindergarten," stated Sowada. "I would always attempt drawing old ford trucks or deer and fish. This year, I started to actually draw pictures that would hold more value to me because I took more time to draw them. I figured there would be no better truck to start on than my dream truck, a 97’, 7.3 Powerstroke. The class periods that I have worked on this drawing, not a single minute of it went by slowly. It always seemed that right when I started, it was already time to pick up and go to another class."

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"This photo of Gavin kind of shows you just a piece of what he's all about," stated RHS Art Instructor Carl Halverson. " From the logo on the shirt that he and a friend designed, to the drawing of the truck that he holds in his hands, his interests are on full display. What the shirt and the drawing doesn't show is another reason that he has earned the Artist of the Month honor, and why he has made such a favorable impression on many of us at RHS. He's the kind of student who seems to be able to make a classroom better by just being around as an example. If he notices that someone needs help with something, he doesn't need someone to persuade him to help out, he just steps up to the plate. And in some cases, he knows when to step back and not become a part of a possible negative situation. Many students who have the ability to draw or paint feel like that they are so gifted, that no one can teach them anything. "It's too repetitive, to practice shading or mixing color," one such student said to me a few years back. This student was in basketball, so I replied back, "Ya, just like in basketball practice right? They make you shoot hundreds of free throws over and over, and run full court drills, day after day. It's just too repetitive, so why even go out for the sport?" My point was that you do basics in any endeavor in life, over and over, to reach your full potential. Gavin never complains, he just tries his absolute best and his skills have progressed beyond these of people who just work on their own. He's also 1/2 of the 2020 senior Royal yearbook editor tandem that will lead our staff into success. I could not have picked better candidates from that class based on the work they have done and the deadlines that they have met. Gavin will do his best to include EVERY member of his senior class in next year's book, not just his chosen group of friends. That's a rare quality to possess at any age."

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Sowada added; "This drawing would have been nearly impossible without Mr. Halverson teaching our class drawing techniques since sixth grade, from perspective to shading and color theory. He doesn't just teach it from a book, he shows it to us in his work. I would be surprised if there was a better art teacher ever to teach these skills that also taught us important life lessons along the way."