MONTEGO BAY, St James-- The new summer label for 7Up's drink bottles and billboards will feature a relaxed Fido Dido, hibiscus flower in hand, against the background of a meandering river with fishes and frogs, courtesy of 16-year-old Norlette Wilson, a Grade 10 student of the St James High School.

Pepsi Cola Jamaica chose the work of Wilson, 17-year-old Shantoll Parchment, of Bridgeport High School and 16 year-old Akeem Bignott, of Dunoon Park Technical High School-- from a field of 150 secondary school students who entered its 2009 7Up Art Competition last year.

Wilson who topped the county of Cornwall, also won a 17'' flat screen desk top computer while her school received $55,000 in cash, as well as a computer, which enhance the institution's art education programme.

"I am very happy and proud of myself. It's the first time I have ever won anything in my life," she told the Observer West last Thursday, adding that she had long wanted a computer.

According to Norlette, last year while she was in grade 9, her art teacher Judisha Blackwood encouraged her to enter the competition.

" She saw the talent in me and asked me to enter the 7UP drawing competition," said. "So I said okay; because I would do anything that she asked me to... so I did it," she explained.

The competition had invited students to submit illustrations of the iconic 7Up character Fido Dido in a situation depicting the theme "Fido gets close to nature in Jamaica" with by an original "Fidosophy" to complement the illustration. A "Fidosophy" is an expression that conveys a unique idea or point of view on life.

Norlette said after carefully reading the rules of the competition, she took a good look at her school's surroundings and got to work.

"I sat in my art room and look outside and I looked at the beautiful view over there and looked at nature and began to draw......... the trees, the plants......... there were all there in front of me," she said, sporting a broad smile.

Norlette's artwork, which she said she completed in one day, was drawn in black ink under the theme: "chilling out in nature makes you think," on a 7.5" by 7.25" cartridge paper poster.

The former student of Chetwood Memorial School is the daughter of Jullette and Norman Wilson, also art enthusiasts.

She told the Observer West that she has been drawing since babyhood and plans to pursue a career in teaching, with focus on art, spanish and music.

Meanwhile, principal of the St James High School, Joseph Williams is overjoyed.

"I am pleased to have the winner ... we are very proud of her," he said. "Right now (Pepsi Cola Jamaica) is looking for a site to place the billboard and that will really boost the morale of the school."

St James High School, formerly Montego Bay Secondary School has had a traditional reputation for violence and unsavoury behaviour.

However in recent years, the institution has begun to emerge from its malaise.

In fact, the school in 2008 excelled in sports, copping the Ben Francis Trophy and the coveted daCosta Cup.

There have also been marked improvements in the behavioural attitude of students attending the institution, as well as a marked improvement in academic standards.

The awards for the 7UP competition were announced and prizes presented to the students at a luncheon hosted by Pepsi Cola Jamaica on at the Pegasus Hotel in Kingston on March 4.

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