Dreams Are Free student wins card contest

Christina Gudger is the second student in the diocese to win the Holy Child Association Christmas Card Contest in two years.

BOB REDDY | FLORIDA CATHOLIC VENICE BUREAU EDITOR

Posted: 06.30.09

Christina Gudger was notified by the Holy Child Association committee in early June that her drawing was selected from among more than 10,000 entries as one of 23 finalists for the annual contest.
ART | CHRISTINA GUDGER

SARASOTA | Christina Gudger received an early Christmas this year when she was named in June as one of the winners of the Holy Child Association Christmas Card Contest.

The Dreams Are Free School eighth-grade student submitted her work of art, which included a Nativity scene with a palm tree and the North Star shining down upon those gathered to pay homage to the newly born Baby Jesus.

Sarasota Dreams Are Free Academy eighth-grader Christina Gudger, poses for a photo after learning she was a finalist in the Holy Child Association Christmas Card Contest.

Christina Gudger is an eighth-grade student at Dreams Are Free School in Sarasota.

Christina was notified by the Holy Child Association committee in early June that her drawing was selected from among more than 10,000 entries as one of 23 finalists for the annual contest.

The Holy Childhood Association, which is the Pontifical Mission Society that directs its efforts to elementary school children, conducts the annual contest to get students excited about what the mission societies do around the world.

Christina has been a student at the school for several years. Her artistic talents were recognized by her teachers at an early age, and she was encouraged to enter the contest, said Kathy Lynn, a teacher at the school.

Christina’s artwork will be on display during Advent at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., and she will be invited to participate in a special event for the contest winners in mid-December.

She will also receive a plaque honoring her achievement. The artwork will also be available for use as an e-Christmas card.

Christina is the second student in two years to be recognized for her artwork by the Holy Child Association; Keeyasha Marcel of St. Charles Borromeo School in Port Charlotte was similarly recognized.

Patty Macias, a spokeswoman at the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States, said it was very unusual for students from the same diocese to be recognized two years in a row.

“That is very rare, considering we receive more than 10,000 pieces of artwork each year which are judged by a professional committee,” Macias said.

The Pontifical Missions Societies are active in 120 countries throughout the world, working to animate the faithful to a universal missionary spirit and to gather support for 1,150 mission dioceses in Asia, the Pacific Islands and remote regions of Latin America.

For more information about the Holy Childhood Association visit the Web site at www.holychildhoodusa.org. To send an e-card, visit www.hcakids.org.

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