Arlington Student Wins National Poster Contest Sponsored by Paralyzed Veterans

Paralyzed Veterans of America (Paralyzed Veterans) announced today the winners of its 11th annual Veterans Day Poster and Essay Contest: Maria Gonzalez Ibar, a fourth-grade student at Patrick Henry Elementary in Arlington, is the grand prize winner in the poster category, according to a news release from the group. Here’s more about the honor, from the release:

As part of her grand prize, Paralyzed Veterans will host Maria and her family in Washington, DC, for Veterans Day, where they will attend the Veterans Day National Ceremony at Arlington Cemetery and receive their awards later that day at Paralyzed Veterans of America’s annual Veterans Day reception.

“We thank all of this year’s participants in the contest and extend congratulations to Maria and Lindsey on their winning poster and essay submissions,” said Al Kovach, national president of Paralyzed Veterans of America. “We received more than 800 entries this year, but these two entries stood out above the rest and really captured on paper what people can learn from veterans.”

This year’s contest theme was What Can I Learn from a Veteran? Using their own words images, and creativity, children were asked to share what they feel they can learn from a veteran. The poster contest was open to students in grades 1-4.

Paralyzed Veterans launched the nationwide contest 11 years ago as a way to actively involve the nation’s youth in celebration of Veterans Day and to promote greater awareness of America’s 26 million veterans and the sacrifices they have made to ensure the freedoms we enjoy daily.

To learn more about the contest and view this year’s winning entries, visit www.pva.org/posteressay.

PHOTO: Maria Gonzalez Ibar, a fourth-grade student at Patrick Henry Elementary in Arlington, is the grand prize winner in the poster category. This is her poster.