Seminole County student wins first-ever I Voted sticker contest

Arwen Yan, a sixth grader at Tuskawilla Middle School, won Seminole County’s first-ever student I Voted sticker contest, and her bald eagle-and-flag design will be printed as a 2-inch round sticker for polling places across the county during the 2026 election cycle.

Supervisor of Elections Amy Pennock announced the winner during a surprise classroom visit that turned the reveal into a civics lesson. Yan’s artwork was selected from more than 50 submissions from students across Seminole County, showing that the contest drew wide interest from elementary and middle school classrooms.

The county launched the contest in mid-February and set a February 23 deadline for original, nonpartisan artwork that clearly included the phrase I Voted. Official contest materials said the winning design could be reproduced for outreach, education and promotional purposes, and the office originally said it would select three winning designs. Pennock’s April 10 announcement identified Yan as the sole winner.

Yan’s design, submitted by her art teacher Olivia Manzone, will not stay on a poster or a bulletin board. Seminole County plans to print it as a sticker and hand it to voters at polling locations across the county. The image will also appear on social media, in the elections office and in voter outreach and education efforts, giving the student’s work a public role far beyond the classroom.

Tuskawilla Middle School Principal Randy Shuler joined school board members Autumn Garick, Kristine Kraus and Abby Sanchez for the reveal, along with Yan’s parents, students, teachers and staff. Manzone said the design reflected pride in voting and the freedom to vote, a message the elections office wants to connect with children long before they are old enough to cast a ballot.

The timing matters for Seminole County, a fast-growing jurisdiction with a 2025 population estimated at 491,884 by the U.S. Census Bureau. The county’s 2026 general election is set for November 3, with early voting scheduled from October 19 through November 1, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Pennock’s office, at 1500 E. Airport Blvd. in Sanford, will be at the center of that election-year visibility as the winning sticker shows up in daily use across the county.

The contest also fits into a broader youth-engagement push. Seminole County used a student art contest in 2025 as well, suggesting the supervisor’s office sees school-based civic projects as a way to build future voters while making the election process more familiar to families now.