Pam Smith, then-art teacher at East Valley High School, takes attendance at the beginning of class. There’s something troubling 17-year-old student Ariel Sopu. Smith can see it in her shoulders.

Rosin, an art teacher at Denton High, won the $3,000 prize, which is funded through the Mark and Barbara Smith Trust, which also donated $1 million to enrich the Denton ISD fine arts program.