IRONTON — Raven Webb, a seventh grade student at Ironton Open Door School, has taken the first step to becoming an internationally recognized artist by winning a local competition sponsored by the Ironton Lions Club.

Webb’s poster was among more than 375,000 entries submitted worldwide in the 23rd annual Lions International Peace Poster Contest. Lions Clubs International is sponsoring the contest to emphasize the importance of world peace to young people everywhere.

On peace, Raven believes peace should mean “people being nice to each other.” The poster was selected by the Ironton Club for its originality, artistic merit and portrayal of the contest theme “Vision of Peace”.

Ironton Lions Club President Lou Pyles said she was impressed by the expression and creativity of the students at the Open Door School, where children with developmental disabilities ages 6-22 receive education programming in a classroom setting. “It is obvious that these young people have strong ideas about what peace means to them. I’m proud that we were able to provide them with the opportunity to share their visions.”

“Webb’s poster will advance to face stiff competition through the district, multiple district and international rounds of competition if she is to be declared the international grand prize winner,” Pyles said.

Lions Clubs International is the world’s largest service club organization with more than 1.3 million members in 45,000 clubs in more than 200 countries and geographic areas. In addition to its efforts toward conquering blindness, the organization has made a strong commitment to community service and helping youth throughout the world.