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Student Recognition

2026 Contest Winners

Celebrating outstanding student work from the Ella Holtzen Memorial Art Contest and the Tolerance Week Essay Contest.

Each year art and essay contests are held for Middle School students. The theme is announced here in early January, and the deadline is a few weeks before the Tolerance Week student events. Winners and their teachers each receive a $250 cash prize and are invited to the Tolerance Week Award Banquet to share their work and receive their prizes.

Theme
Remembering the Past, Shaping the Future.
Deadline
Monday, April 13, 2026, 5pm
Painting of railroad tracks crossing flowers toward a camp building beneath a red sky.

Ella Holtzen Memorial Art Contest

Grand Prize Winner

Kelli Schnell

8th Grade · South Sioux City Middle School

Special Art Awards

Drawing contrasts a fenced camp and a colorful city around an hourglass.

Marlon Gonzales Rodriguez

North Middle School

Black-and-white collage reads “HATE MUST GO” over historical photographs and clippings.

Maeby Buckley

North Middle School

Painting contrasts railroad tracks and a yellow star with a sunny house across a rooted tree.

Elaina Cosgrove

North Middle School

Drawing contrasts a bare tree in a dark landscape with a leafy tree in bright colors.

Ariyah Tyler DeLeon

West Middle School

Drawing of open books, clasped hands, railroad tracks, flowers, and a memorial stone.

Allison Toral Amaya

West Middle School

Tolerance Week Essay Contest

Essay Winner

Adeline Sanchez-Garcia

All Flowers Will Blossom

We’re all beautiful flowers Cherished at different hours But roses say we should be like them Just because they have a better stem Even though we symbolize different Doesn’t mean we should be so distant We want to see the beauty in life And to not be torn by a strife Their thorns prick us as we blossom by It seems like they want us to die And we all don’t understand why So I guess it’s time to say our goodbyes Why can’t we all accept And not to deflect Just because we mean different things Doesn’t mean we have a bad sting They forget we’re all just flowers Just different types of flowers Just because you are more popular Doesn’t mean you can be so sour In springs we all bloom In winters we all gloom So what difference does it make? We’re all beautiful flowers So I’m begging you let us plea We like to be so free Bloom our sweet scent That smooths against the cold wind Our meadow is torn apart Our beautiful art is gone They say to give up But I just won’t backup Because we’re all beautiful flowers The desire to be cherished I won’t be symbolized by a badge I won’t fall into ash I’ll bloom in fields I won’t be easy to wield Stand up to what I believe It will be hard to make me leave I’ll take my home back I will not lack My strength will so strong Because we do belong Because I’m a beautiful lilly I represent kindness and innocence I don’t do any type of brittleness Like my fellow white roses No flower will ever smell sweet If they have bad desires on your street So rest in peace to my daffodils You’ll be remembered still As I wither in my flowerbed I hope you will agree That were all just beautiful flowers And that’s all we’ll ever be