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Cookies and a cup of hot cocoa with a winter scene won the 2025 Black Hawk College Foundation Holiday Card Contest.
“Cookies and Cocoa (Warmth in a Cup)” – digital artwork by Ashley Schmoll of Coal Valley – is gracing the cover of the foundation’s official holiday card for the 2025 holiday season.
“I think that having hot chocolate and cookies are really good during the cold winter season,” Schmoll said.
As the contest winner, she received a $350 scholarship from the foundation to go toward tuition, books, supplies and fees for Spring 2026.
Schmoll is pursuing an Associate in Arts at the Quad-Cities Campus. After earning an associate degree, she plans to transfer to a four-year university and major in graphic design.
Chelsea Lavino of Moline took second place and received a $150 scholarship for “Winter Hearth,” an acrylic painting.
Lavino is pursuing an Associate in Science at the Quad-Cities Campus. After earning an associate degree, her goal is to study to become a doctor of optometry.
“‘Winter Hearth’ is inspired by how our ancestors would have decorated for the winter season,” she said. “Once known as Yule, people would decorate with things found outside and adorned into the décor.”
Thank you to all the students who entered artwork!
Cookies and Cocoa (Warmth in a Cup)
By Ashley Schmoll
Winter Hearth
By Chelsea Lavino
