Apollo-Ridge students designing new logo for Kiski Township

The Kiski Township supervisors are asking students in the Apollo-Ridge School District to design a logo for the township for a myriad of uses, including letterhead, police department badges and possibly township vehicles.

The current logo on township police badges is a generic government seal. But Kiski Township officials want more.

“We are looking for a modern look to bring us into the 21st century,” said Chuck Rodnicki, the township supervisor who is working on the logo project with the school district.

The supervisors have been talking about the need for a logo since early in the year, he said.

Specifications for the logo include depicting the township’s past, present and future.

The township is offering a $50 gift card to the student who produces the chosen logo. There is no deadline as of yet.

“Since we want to get some of our history in the logo, this will give kids something to research,” Rodnicki said.

The school district has opened up the logo project to all high school students, said Cristine Kostiuk, an administrative assistant for the school district and president of the Apollo-Ridge Education Foundation, which secures grants to pay for education-related projects, including some public projects.

Students are working on their logo designs, she said. The district hopes to have multiple designs to present to the township, from which they will choose the winner by the end of the school year, she said.

“The students at Apollo-­Ridge are a great resource for our community,” Kostiuk said. “Past projects serve as testaments to the creativity and commitment to excellence of which the students are capable. It’s very exciting to have civic organizations reach out to the school to tap into that talent.”

Local governments have called on the Apollo-Ridge School District before for its artistic flair.

In 2018, students and volunteers created an Apollo icon: A 60-by-15-foot mural depicting the history of Apollo on the side of a building at the intersection of Kiski Avenue and First Street.

Apollo-Ridge students have provided a number of public service and entertainment events over the years including annual cleanup days, painting campaigns and band and chorus performances.

Still to come is a public education effort by students on the impact of storm drains on the Kiski River, to be sponsored by the Apollo-Ridge Education Foundation, IUP ArtsPath and Armstrong Conservation District.