Maryvale Prep Artwork Shines on 2025 Great Hearts Holiday Card

Artwork by Leilani Duran Howard, a third grader at Maryvale Prep, was selected for the cover of the official 2025 Great Hearts holiday card. Each year, artwork submissions are requested from Great Hearts scholars to be the face of the holiday greeting that is distributed to thousands of recipients in the Great Hearts community.

In a surprise reveal, Headmaster Crystal Cruz and Julia Escobar, Duran Howard’s art teacher who submitted the artwork, broke the news to the initially shy, and stunned third grader. However, once the news set in, she quickly opened up about her art and her admiration for her art teacher. “It might be a little excitement because it’s my first time letting people see my own drawings,” she said with a grin from ear-to-ear.

This marks the first time an Archway student’s artwork has been selected. In previous years, the chosen pieces have come from Prep students. The final selections are determined by a vote of Great Hearts Home Office staff members who do not know which school each submission represents. Duran Howard’s piece received 54% of all the votes. Artwork is submitted in a variety of mediums including watercolor, oil painting, charcoal, and, in this case, an ink drawing, with the sole requirement that each piece be original and created entirely by the student.

Escobar explained that the selected piece originated from a class project where students were asked to draw a snowman in the style of Zentangle, an art form that uses structured, repetitive patterns called “tangles” made from simple strokes like lines, curves, and dots to create beautiful, abstract designs. Escobar sees a quiet confidence and assurance in her artwork that is unique for a third-grade student. “Every time Leilani comes into my art room, she just gets lost in it in a really good way and she embraces being in the present moment.”

“I think that Leilani winning the art contest is just inspiration for our students to really put their best foot forward in art… It’s one of the subjects where a lot of our students are able to shine,” shared Cruz. “And it just makes me really excited that our students are featured and they’re highlighted and that people know that in the Maryvale community, we have programs like this that offer art and offer it at the excellence that that our teachers do.”

Congratulations to Leilani Duran Howard and Maryvale Prep on this well-deserved recognition and thank you for sharing the Beauty of your art to the Great Hearts community and beyond.

Learn more about previous holiday card selections:

https://www.greatheartsamerica.org/great-hearts-anthem-senior-wins-holiday-card-contest/

https://www.greatheartsamerica.org/this-years-holiday-card-sees-the-forest-for-the-trees/

https://www.greatheartsamerica.org/this-snowman-will-melt-your-heart/

Do you have a story or know of one that you would like to see featured at Great Hearts? Please contact jmoore@greatheartsamerica.org.

Submit a student application to a Great Hearts Academy by visiting:https://www.greatheartsamerica.org/enroll/.