Diocese of Rockford
CV NEWS FEED // The Diocese of Rockford, Illinois, has brought back its National Vocations Week poster competition for K-8 students, calling attention to the importance of vocations in a unique way.
The annual competition encourages students to create hand-drawn posters depicting a vocation to the priesthood or religious life. Honoring the USCCB’s National Vocations Week, which ran from November 3 to November 9 this year, the contest provides a way for even small children to inspire other young people to consider the priesthood or religious life.
In a letter to the pastors, principals, and teachers of diocesan schools, Vocation Director Fr. Jack Reichardt, noted that the competition provides an opportunity for students to unite their art and religion classes, where they can “take what they learned and share it in a creative way.”
“Students are encouraged to use scripture verses, slogans, catchy phrases, or other words to highlight the promotion of vocations,” Fr. Reichardt added in his letter.
Fr. Reichardt told CatholicVote in an email interview last year that he got the idea from a diocese in California and decided to implement it in Rockford as well.
“We make an official seminarian poster with all our current candidates every year. These posters are made by a graphic designer,” Fr. Reichardt told CatholicVote in 2023. “But we thought it would be fun this year, in addition to that official one, to allow students K-8 to design their own.”
Each school will submit its top five posters from each grade to the diocese by December 11, and the posters will then be judged by the diocese “based on creativity, craftsmanship, effort, and overall vocation message.” Winners of the competition will be announced in January, and their posters will be printed and used near their school.
