Royal Palm Beach High School student Nestor Jimenez received a special surprise recently. He was recognized as one of the four winners of Dr. Robert Avossa’s Superintendent Holiday Card Competition hosted by the School District of Palm Beach County.
“I was surprised,” Jimenez, 18, said.
A senior art student at RPBHS, Jimenez is enrolled in Drawing 3 and AP Photography, creative classes where he is polishing his skills.
He, and other students, were tasked with creating a holiday card design to spread holiday cheer to members of the community. The contest was open to elementary, middle and high school students.
His inspiration? The school district’s logo for “Pillars of Effective Instruction,” which includes “standards,” “personalized,” “high expectations” and “engaged.”
“Wouldn’t it be a great idea to put it as candles?” he thought when he saw the original design.
Before he went to use Photoshop, he asked for his mother’s advice. After all, she had won a design contest in the past. She told him to keep it simple.
“I did my best to make the card simple,” Jimenez said. “So, I was thinking, ‘OK, I’ll do the same thing: Make it simple, not too much, not too excessive, and hope for the best.’”
When he heard the news, he was excited. Everyone offered their congratulations for his design.
When Jimenez went to meet school district officials, he was presented with a special gift — a hard copy of his greeting card. “I was proud that my work got shared, and that my work is now offered to the people of Florida,” he said.
Jimenez’s card design will be joined by designs from Meybelyn Bauza from Clifford O. Taylor/Kirklane Elementary School, Angela Valenti from Forest Hill High School and Maria Viloria from Omni Middle School.
ESE School Counselor Kathryn Murphy was thrilled at the news.
“Nestor has always been a driven, hardworking and creative student. He has grown over the last three years and honed in on his talent with media, as exhibited by his wonderful holiday card. We are so proud of his accomplishments!” she said.
As Jimenez nears graduation, he is working on his portfolio and planning his future.
“I want to go to an art school that could really help me learn and get a job in the future as an artist,” Jimenez said. “Art is a very competitive field. The competition is tough.”
ABOVE: RPBHS student Nestor Jimenez with the holiday card he created.
