Two Ellis Middle School students will soon see the logos they created on T-shirts for the district spelling bee.

To create enthusiasm around the local spelling bee event, students at Ellis Middle school created and submitted T-shirt logos for the fifth- through eighth-grade district spelling bee. The winners were Lily Holtz and Thomas Walker.

“I was so happy that I did my victory dance in public!” Thomas said in an email to the Herald. “I wanted to sign up because I really believed that I could win, and believing in yourself is one step closer to victory.”

Thomas won for the back of the T-shirt for a design quoting the famous words of Salvador Dali: “Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.”

Lily won the design for the front of the T-shirt for a Scrabble board theme. She said she was inspired to create a Scrabble board because she enjoys playing Scrabble with her family.

School leaders hoped the logo competition would build excitement within the student body around Austin Public Schools.

The district spelling bee will be held at Ellis on Jan. 21 at 9 a.m. The students who qualify for the district spelling bee will sport the locally designed T-shirt created by the students.