Her Creative Poster Previously Won the 2024 Valhalla American Legion Post 1038 and New York State Poppy Poster Contests
Ariela Franco of Yonkers, a graduate of Maria Regina High School (Class of ’24) who recently began the next chapter in her education as a freshman at Syracuse University, learned recently she had won first place in the annual American Legion National Poppy Poster Competition.
In so doing, she achieved the honor of having won all three levels (local, state and national) for the poppy poster she created and initially submitted for the Annual Valhalla American Legion Post 1038 contest. After winning the top prize in Valhalla, her poster came in first place in the state ALA Class VI category and was then submitted to the American Legion’s national poster contest held during the group’s 105th Convention in New Orleans.
Maria Carozza-McCaffrey (Class of ’99), Principal, said: “We are so proud of Ariela for her very notable achievement in winning all three prize levels for her distinctively creative poppy poster that honors the devoted service of America’s veterans. We wish Ariela continued success as she embarks on her post-secondary journey.”
The talented Ariela had been enrolled in Maria Regina’s acclaimed Visual Arts program. She was one of five Maria Regina artists who won top honors in the Poppy Poster Contest sponsored by the Valhalla Post. The other winners from the renowned all-girls Catholic high school are:
Ciara Leddy of Bronxville and Carmella Alcantara of Mount Vernon who respectively won first and second prizes as juniors in the ALA Class V category; Isabella Schneeberg, of Yonkers, who won second prize honors as a senior in the ALA Class VI category and Keitumetse Rankoe of New Rochelle, an international student originally from South Africa and the daughter of a diplomat, who won the Commander’s Award as a sophomore in the ALA Class V category. The students showcased their talents on a 11” X 14” poster board using the poppy, an enduring symbol of remembrance of World War I that is strongly linked with Armistice Day, Nov. 11, 1918 which came to be celebrated as Veterans Day.
