Global Learning Charter Public School (GLCPS), 7th grade student Ayla-Lynn Pimentel was chosen a design winner in a city-wide competition for “I Voted” stickers for the 2024 election.
At the polls voters in New Bedford received a “Voted” sticker that was created by any one of six students from New Bedford whose design was chosen to be mass produced for this very important Election Day.
Several GLCPS students entered the competition after being encouraged to do so by their teachers. Staff voted on the top designs which were then submitted for the competition.
Ayla-Lynn designed a sticker that both reflected New Bedford’s whaling history and its success as a national fishing port. She applied red, white and blue colors to represent the United States, and added yellow to, in her words, “give a pop of color to embrace the design.”
The contest was the brainchild of New Bedford Election Commissioner Manuel DeBrito. Mr. DeBrito also was a guest speaker at GLCPS recently, speaking to students in grades 8-12 about the importance of participating in the election process and asking them to encourage their family members who are eligible voters to vote in all election.
“I thought about how New Bedford was a big whaling industry so the whale would be a pretty important piece to include in the design. With the ocean I thought about the pier and the boats and how New Bedford really got a lot of its history,” said Ayla-Lynn. She added, “I thought about how New Bedford can be an anchor for success with its rich history so I decided to include the anchor. I use the colors like red white and blue to represent the country and the color yellow was to kind of embrace the design because it’s very eye-catching and would add the final touches.”
“We congratulate all of our students who participated in this important city wide competition,” said Stephen Furtado Jr., Executive Director of GLCPS. “Ayla-Lynn put a great deal of thought and creativity in her design and the result was great. Her design really reflected the value of our community and the city of New Bedford.”
About Global Learning Charter Public School
Open to New Bedford residents, Global Learning Charter Public School (GLCPS) is a tuition-free public charter school that currently serves 500 students in grades 5-12. Launched in 2002 as a Horace Mann charter school, GLCPS became a Commonwealth charter school in 2006. In order to generate a culture of personalization, the school setting and class sizes are deliberately small. Students, faculty and administration know each other well and teachers are able to tailor the curriculum to the needs and level of each student. GLCPS offers an exciting and challenging interdisciplinary curriculum that follows and builds upon the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. Students learn to work collaboratively in teams, use technology meaningfully in their coursework, strengthen all elements of their communication skills, as well as develop the necessary skills to become engaged and ethical contributors to a global society. GLCPS capitalizes on the exceptional resources of the region (for example, marine sciences), and ties these resources to their curriculum and instruction. Additional information is available on the school’s website at www.glcps.org or call 508-991-4105.
