William Randolph, a senior at Owensboro Innovation Academy, has been named the winner of the Army Educational Outreach Program’s Veterans Appreciation Challenge, which allows students to design a wearable pin for veterans. Randolph’s design will be professionally printed and distributed to veterans who visit the National Veterans Memorial and Museum on Memorial Day.
Randolph first learned about the challenge from his engineering teacher toward the end of 2023. In its third year, the AEOP Veterans Appreciation Challenge — hosted by the Army Educational Outreach Program and Future Engineers — invited students across the country in grades 4–12 to use their creativity and engineering skills to create a 3D pin to honor U.S. military veterans.
“It was just a computer-aided design (CAD) challenge out there that my teacher recommended to me and so I decided to go with it,” Randolph said. “I had absolutely no clue I’d get this far. It’s pretty amazing. I looked on the contest page and there were amazing designs.”
Twenty finalists were announced last month, 10 each from the 4-8th grade and the 9th-12th grade groups. Randolph was shocked when he was named the 9th-12th grade winner on April 3.
“My mom got a phone call, and I was simultaneously looking on the website since I knew it was the day they were announcing the winners,” he said. “Lo and behold, I was the winner. It was pretty amazing. I was speechless, just overjoyed. I was just really amazed that my design got chosen above all others.”
Randolph’s design is titled “Veterans’ Pin.” He drew inspiration from his own family’s military service: a grandfather and two uncles served in the Navy, another grandfather served in the Army, and a cousin is currently a Marine.
The front of the pin displays a flag along with the definition of the word “hero.” The back says “Thank you for your service.”
“When I think of a veteran, I think of an absolute hero serving our country. I thought about my family when I was designing it,” he said.
For winning, Randolph is receiving a fully paid 3-day, 2-night trip to the National Veterans Memorial and Museum in Colombus, Ohio, on Memorial Day. He and the 4th-8th grade winner will meet and present their winning pins to attending veterans.
As part of his prize, Randolph has also won a 3D printer for OIA.
