South Meck, Lake Norman Charter need votes for Vans shoe design contest

South Mecklenburg and Lake Norman Charter students are semi-finalists (that means among the country's top 50) in the Vans Custom Culture contest. The competition is for high school students who have created four designs for Vans shoes.

(Click on the photos to see the designs in better detail.)

Lake Norman Charter's shoes. Photo courtesy vans.com

South Mecklenburg's shoes.

Now the two schools need votes online to make it to the finalist round for the top five designs. If one (or both) of the schools become finalists, students will fly to New York City and are guaranteed to win money for their school's art program. The grand-prize winner will receive $50,000 for the school's art program and a chance for the winning shoes to be produced and sold in Vans retail stores.

Lake Norman Charter and South Meck were chosen from 1,500 schools that applied. Each school has to create four differently-themed designs: art, music, action sports and local flavor.

Voting ends May 13. To vote, visit vans.com/customculture/vote.