Carsen Hickman put his stamp on the design competition in the Junior American Citizen Contest held in March here in Nacogdoches by the Daughters of the American Revolution.
The Mike Moses Elementary School first-grader won first place locally and second place overall in Texas.
The Nacogdoches Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution hosted the contest and invited schools from around the County to participate in the Junior American Citizen Contest each year.
Carsen was one of several NISD students participating in the contest. Fredonia Early Childhood Center and McMichael Middle School also garnered recognition in the competition. Elijah Leandro, Isabella Landaverde, Ava Camacho, and Isella Barrueta from Fredonia, and Claire Lardeux, Ariana Culver, Lexy Salinas, Maggie Dermakardijian, Emily DeLaCruz and Daniel Escalante-Garcia from McMichael Middle School participated.
Pre-K students from Fredonia Early Childhood Center participating included Elijah Leandro, Isabella Landaverde, Ava Camacho, and Isella Barrueta.
The 2023-2024 Junior American Citizen Contest Theme was “Sparkling in the Stars with the 50th Anniversary of the NASA Space Shuttle Program.”
Erin Stephens, art teacher at Mike Moses, taught each class about Apollo 11, the American space flight that put astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon.
“We read a book called ‘Moonshot’ with students and discussed illustrations from the book,” said Stephens. “The stamp design contest is where students design a postage stamp based on the theme for the year.”
Students designed a stamp during art class and then chose whether to submit the work to the contest. More than 200 postage stamp designs from Mike Moses were entered, and Carsen was selected as a winner.
Carsen is in Debra White's class. He attended the DAR banquet with his dad, Chris Hickman, and Stephens, the art teacher.
“It was a wonderful recognition time for Carsen and Mike Moses Elementary School, and we are so proud of him,” Stephens said. “We are also thankful to the Nacogdoches Chapter of the DAR, who provide this opportunity to students each year.
“I wanted to enter my students in this contest to make connections between history and art, showcase their work in the community, and model participating in opportunities in our community that are available to us.”