In the Ventura County Office of Education’s (VCOE) 2025 Logo Contest, organizers received around 200 submissions to represent the upcoming Ventura County Academic Decathlon, Science Fair, Mock Trial and Battle of the Books, with only four submissions ultimately selected.
For Thousand Oaks High School sophomore Layla Ward, this competition was simply a fun way to make art; she never thought her logo would be the one selected to represent the Ventura County Science Fair.
“I was surprised [I] [won] because I hadn’t entered very seriously,” Ward said. “I’ve always liked drawing, but I don’t usually do anything but draw for fun.”
The VCOE aims to provide students of various ages with opportunities to promote creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and more. The VCOE has successfully done this for many years by partnering with local educational agencies, and government and private sector personnel to create competitions and other events that foster collaboration within many communities.
Ward, despite not usually entering her art into competitions, was encouraged by her ninth-grade biology teacher Nikki Malhotra.
“Malhotra wanted [TOHS] students to enter both the science and art categories of the science fair,” Ward said. “She told me that her goal was for someone from [TOHS] to win the logo contest and the science competition.”
Therefore, Ward decided to enter not only to represent her school but also because she has always enjoyed art, especially because of the freedom to draw anything you want.
“There’s not really any limits on what you can draw,” Ward said.
When designing her logo, she wanted to include science while also showcasing society in some way.
“I wanted to show modern science that impacts our world today,” Ward said. “I tried to show different fields of science and technology that are being studied today.”
Ward took a few days to sketch out different ideas and finalized her logo during her art class. Eventually, when she decided what she wanted she submitted it and waited.
“I just submitted a picture of my drawing and emailed it to the organizer,” Ward said. “Then they reviewed all of the submissions and voted.”
After the voting was finalized, Ward was selected and her logo can now be seen on the Ventura County Office of Education website and will be the face of the upcoming Ventura Science Fair.
