4 North Hills High School students make finals in 'I Voted' sticker contest

Among the 10 high school finalists in Allegheny County’s “I Voted” sticker contest, four come from one place — North Hills High School.

The contest asked local high schoolers to design a 2-inch sticker to be given to Allegheny County voters in the upcoming primary and general elections in 2025. Most of the final designs feature Pittsburgh or Pennsylvania-themed motifs.

North Hills students Max Laird, Lilly Larkin, Peyton Powers and Stella Stango now await the results of an online public vote that could place their design in the hands or on the T-shirts of thousands of county voters.

Joseph Bosley, a North Hills High School teacher, said he assigned students in his Intro to Graphic Design course to create a sticker for class. He said he encouraged his students to submit their designs to the county, but he was “completely shocked” when he found out three of his pupils — Laird, Powers and Larkin — had made the finals.

“The three that made it, they definitely put in the time and effort above and beyond,” Bosley said.

The 10 finalists ultimately were selected by the county’s elections and marketing staff from 38 total entries, according to Abigail Gardner, Allegheny County’s communications director.

The contest is the first of its kind in the county, Gardner said. It serves as an effort to bolster voter turnout for this year’s nonpresidential elections, which typically see fewer voters participate.

Gardner said she is “pleasantly surprised” by the more than 4,000 votes already cast, and she is “grateful” for the participation of the North Hills students.

Bosley said each of his three students are “extremely talented,” and he would not be surprised if any of them emerged the victor.

“They’re just the type of kids that make our job easy,” he said.

One of those students, Larkin, said she based her design on Pittsburgh’s “interesting fascination” with pickles. Her green sticker features a large gherkin in the foreground with the city skyline behind it.

Larkin said she wanted to “take a different approach” and “have fun” with her design. The 17-year-old senior said the 2025 elections will be her first, but in the meantime, she said she thinks she has a chance at winning the sticker vote.

“The fact that my first ‘I Voted’ sticker could be one I designed is crazy,” Larkin said.

Unlike the graphic design students, Stango, a sophomore, said she heard about the competition in a Spotify ad and decided to enter.

She first sketched her design, which features a black-and-gold outline of Pennsylvania above the Pittsburgh skyline, and then rendered it on the graphics platform Canva.

Stango said she was “surprised” to make the finals, but she has set to work campaigning for her sticker.

The news of the competition has been a frequent discussion among high school students, Stango said, and the district administration has encouraged residents to support the finalists.

“We love to see the creative talents of our students recognized. We’re extremely proud of Max, Lilly, Peyton and Stella, and encourage everyone in the community to support them by voting for their favorite design,” North Hills Superintendent Patrick Mannarino said.

The public voting period will close at 11:59 p.m. Jan. 27. Voting is limited to one vote per device and can be done on the county website.

The winner will be announced the first week of February.