Harbison West Elementary Student Wins Honors in National Contest

A Lexington-Richland School District Five second grader has earned honors in a nationwide First Amendment cartoon competition.

Natalia Gonzalez-Guzman received an honorable mention in the elementary school comic strip division of the contest, which was sponsored by the Constitutional Rights Foundation, the California Administrative Office of the Courts and other groups. 

Gonzalez-Guzman was awarded a certificate, and her cartoon is featured on the website courtsed.org. The winning cartoons were selected from among hundreds of submissions, and judging was based on creativity and understanding of the First Amendment expressed in the drawing. 

California Fourth District Court of Appeal Judge Justice Judith D. McConnell said the selection panel was impressed with Natalia’s art and the ideas expressed in the cartoon. “We recognize the critical role that young people will have in the future of our democracy,” she wrote in a letter to the Harbison West student. 

Originally from El Salvador, Gonzalez-Guzman is a student in Harbison West’s Escolares Academy magnet program. Second-grade students from the program submitted cartoons into the national contest after a lesson on the First Amendment. 

“We’re really proud of Natalia,” her second-grade teacher Jennifer Wahrmund said. “The fact that she was able to win an honorable mention shows a high level of understanding and application of the lesson on the First Amendment. That’s what we want for all our students – for them to be able to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom to real-world activities.” 

Submitted by Lexington-Richland Five School District.