(McQueeney) — The spirit of Fiesta San Antonio is making its way into local classrooms. Thanks to a McQueeney Elementary student’s artwork, Seguin-area students and their families are being connected to one of San Antonio’s most recognizable traditions.
Workforce Solutions Alamo which serves 13 counties throughout the Alamo region, hosted its Fiesta Medal Design Contest, inviting K-12 students to create artwork based on the theme “Creating Careers, Connecting Communities.” Students were encouraged to illustrate how jobs and careers help bring people together and strengthen their communities.
Bailey Bock, a student at McQueeney Elementary School, earned the top honor in the elementary school category for her colorful drawing featuring the Alamo and several different career paths, including a baker or chef, artist, construction worker and doctor.
Adrian Lopez, Workforce Solutions Alamo CEO says the contest is an expansion of the organization’s new Fiesta tradition.
“Last year we had our inaugural Fiesta Medal, and so, but then this year, and that was designed internally, this year we decided to go ahead and push that out to the public, given that we cover 13 counties, and thought it would be a good idea to put it out to the K through 12 space. So we had three different categories, whether we were going to recognize the elementary school, middle school, and someone from high school, and then have an overall winner,” said Lopez.
Lopez says Bailey’s design stood out because it captured both the contest theme and the importance of helping students begin thinking about their futures.
“First off, it’s always cool to see, what kids can produce. This year’s theme was creating careers and connecting communities. So, Bailey’s design after it was about, her design was the Alamo with a bunch of people in there. So, it’s always great to have children at a young age to start thinking about their careers and how that fits into communities. And so, the panel that reviewed the submissions thought that hers was super inspirational. A lot of it is just about putting people front and center to really highlight and celebrate people. So, her design really fit into the overall theme that we had for this year,” said Lopez.
Beyond the contest, Lopez says the organization uses programs like the Fiesta medal competition to help connect students and families with career opportunities throughout the region.
He says Workforce Solutions Alamo serves families from early childhood through career training and employment, helping provide child care subsidies, workforce development programs and career education opportunities. Lopez says the organization also works with schools through teacher externship programs, where educators “learn how classroom instruction connects to industries such as manufacturing, healthcare and construction.”
“Fiesta is always fun and sometimes you do have to have your messaging out there with something that’s a lot funnier than talking about sort of things like programs. But we obviously work in this region. We have those 16 career centers, but also, we have our workforce one bus. So that was kind of going along with us last couple of weeks as we recognize those kids that were part of the winners for the Fiesta medal,” said Lopez.
Bailey was recently surprised with the award during the school’s morning assembly, where Workforce Solutions Alamo recognized her achievement and presented her with a $250 gift card for winning the top elementary school honor.
The overall winning student artist for the contest received a $500 award and was recognized as the official designer of the 2026 Workforce Solutions Alamo Fiesta Medal. In addition to Bailey’s elementary category win, top middle school submissions also received a $250 gift card.
Sharing in the early morning surprise were Bailey’s friends and family.
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- Bailey with Adrian Lopez, CEO of Workforce Solutions Alamo.
