Months after being selected, the Alpha Omega Academy student sees her heartfelt drawing transformed by Elliott’s Jewelers
Winning design comes to life
HUNTSVILLE, Texas — Ani Harutyunyan’s jaw dropped as the box opened and she saw her completed necklace for the first time.
Months after Ani learned that her drawing had been selected in CASA’s Sketches to Sparkles Jewelry Design Contest, the incoming sixth-grade student at Alpha Omega Academy watched her idea become a one-of-a-kind piece of jewelry.
The finished necklace was presented to Ani on Thursday, Aug. 20, at the office of CASA of Walker, San Jacinto and Trinity Counties in Huntsville.
Ani and fellow student Layla Monjaras were announced May 19 as the two winners of the third annual contest, a partnership between CASA and Elliott’s Jewelers. Their designs were selected from nearly 200 student entries based on the artwork and the personal stories behind each drawing.
Following the announcement, Elliott Herzlich, owner of Elliott’s Jewelers, spent the summer translating the students’ ideas into finished pieces.
Ani attended Thursday’s presentation with her father, Karen Harutyunyan; her mother, Nara Martirosyan; and her sister, Lili Harutyunyan. Layla was unable to attend the reveal.
CASA staff and board members, community supporters and representatives of Elliott’s Jewelers and Alpha Omega Academy also gathered to celebrate the completed jewelry.
As the necklace was revealed, Ani’s eyes widened and her mouth fell open. Her expression showed the surprise and excitement of seeing the drawing she created on paper turned into a professionally crafted necklace.
The finished piece preserved the heart, infinity theme and diamond Ani used to represent the lasting love within her family.
Ani recalls learning she had won
During Thursday’s reveal, Ani looked back on the day in May when she first learned that her design had been selected.
Her mother told her they were attending an event connected to Sam Houston State University. Because Martirosyan is a professor at the university, Ani believed she was simply accompanying her mother to a campus-related gathering.
“I never heard about it, actually,” Ani said, recalling the May announcement. “My mom told me we were going to a university event, and since I love those, I agreed to go with her.”
Ani did not realize her family had brought her to CASA to be recognized as one of the contest’s two winners.
“Then I found out that it was because I won the jewelry contest,” she said. “I never knew about it until the very last hour.”
That surprise happened when the winners were announced in May. Thursday’s gathering completed the process by giving Ani her finished necklace for the first time.
A design centered on lasting family love
Ani entered the contest through Alpha Omega Academy after her art class was given the opportunity to participate. She credited her art teacher, Molly Davis, along with her homeroom teacher, Ms. Belle, for helping students take part in the project.
Although some students completed their entries quickly, Ani spent about two weeks working through different ideas.
“I drew a lot of things first,” she said. “I tried to include everybody in our family, but I couldn’t think of something that would fit onto a necklace.”
She eventually developed a design built around a heart, an infinity symbol and the idea of a family’s enduring love.
“It represents our love forever,” Ani said. “It’s like infinity. Our love will never stop, no matter what happens.”
Her original drawing featured hands forming a heart with a diamond inside. In the written portion of her entry, Ani described the support her mother has given their family.
“Even with all the things I have done and will do, her love and support will never be replaced,” Ani wrote.
Ani previously explained that the heart represented the life her family shares, while the hands represented her mother holding on to them through every season.
“She’s holding on to us, like the hands,” Ani said when the winners were announced. “She’s holding on to our life and everything. That’s what it resembles.”
The finished necklace required some adjustments so the design could be worn comfortably and last for years. Its heart, infinity theme and center diamond preserved the meaning behind Ani’s drawing.
The diamond adds another surprise
Ani said the completed necklace exceeded what she expected when she first created the design.
“I thought they might have just put silver, but the diamond was really pretty in the middle,” she said.
Her reaction drew smiles from those gathered around her. John Michael Coleman of Elliott’s Jewelers said the look on Ani’s face was exactly the kind of response jewelers hope to see when revealing a custom piece.
“That’s what we do it for, those expressions when they light up like a Christmas tree,” Coleman said. “There’s no better feeling than knowing, ‘Yes, we got it.’ That’s the reaction that we hope to get.”
Ani thanked Herzlich for the time and craftsmanship he put into creating the necklace.
“Thank you very much to Mr. Elliott,” Ani said. “He did a great job over the summer.”
A mother reflects on the original surprise
Martirosyan said she had no idea Ani entered the contest until CASA called her before the winners were announced in May.
“When I got the call, I was asked if I was Ani’s mom,” Martirosyan recalled. “I was like, ‘Yes, what did she do?’”
Martirosyan soon learned that her daughter’s artwork had been selected for one of the contest’s top honors.
“I was told about the contest that I had no idea she participated in,” she said. “I had no idea what she did, but this was really a good surprise.”
Martirosyan has worked at Sam Houston State University since fall 2013, and Ani has attended Alpha Omega Academy since kindergarten.
“She’s an independent young lady,” Martirosyan said. “She does her stuff. She’s always on top of her things and participating in different things and contests.”
The story Ani submitted with her drawing made the recognition especially meaningful for her mother.
“I was very, very proud of her,” Martirosyan said. “Especially the meaning behind the jewelry piece she put. I was very touched. It was emotional when they read it out loud. I almost cried.”
Martirosyan said the connections among Ani’s school, Sam Houston State University, CASA, Elliott’s Jewelers and the broader Huntsville community added another layer to the experience.
Layla Monjaras’ design honors her grandmother
Layla Monjaras was selected alongside Ani as the contest’s second 2026 winner. Although Layla could not attend Thursday’s presentation, her design was inspired by the memory of her late grandmother.
Her drawing included an emerald, a braided gold-and-silver chain and the words “look to the stars.”
“This is about my grandma,” Layla wrote in her original entry. “She was everything to me, but she died when I was younger. I miss her so much.”
Layla chose the emerald because green was her grandmother’s favorite color. The braided chain reflected her grandmother’s love of braids and twisted designs.
The words incorporated into the piece came from something her grandmother once told her.
“She was like, whenever you need to find me, I’ll be in the stars,” Layla said when the winners were announced. “That’s where I get that from.”
Layla expressed disbelief when she learned in May that her design had been selected.
“I was like, this can’t be real,” she said. “Out of all the contestants, me? I was like, thank you so much. It’s amazing.”
More information about Ani and Layla’s original drawings is available in Hello Huntsville’s May announcement of the 2026 winners.
Contest reaches more children through local schools
CASA Development Director Laura Green said organizers made a concentrated effort this year to place the contest in front of more students.
The contest received about 25 entries during its first year. CASA began looking for a way to make the opportunity more accessible to children who might not see the contest advertised or have time to complete an entry at home.
CASA reached out to area school districts and art departments, presenting Sketches to Sparkles as a project teachers could incorporate into their classrooms. The outreach helped generate close to 200 entries this year.
“We really wanted to figure out a way to include more children and get more people excited about this opportunity because it is a very big opportunity,” Green said.
The classroom approach gave students dedicated time to draw their jewelry designs and develop the written stories behind them. Some art teachers worked with English teachers to help students express the meaning of their artwork.
Green said Sketches to Sparkles includes two equally important parts.
“It’s not just an art project, but the story is just as important, if not more so, than the actual piece that they draw,” Green said.
The combination of writing and art gave students an opportunity to think about someone important to them and explain why that relationship mattered.
“It was a neat learning opportunity for these children, especially the younger ones, but even the older ones too,” Green said. “It’s something that we want to get everybody in our community involved in.”
The contest attracted enough attention that CASA received an attempted submission from outside Texas.
“We even had somebody see it on Facebook who was in Missouri and tried to send a piece in,” Green said. “We said, ‘No, it’s just for our community,’ but we’re definitely trying to get the word out.”
Two winners selected during the third year
The increase in participation gave Herzlich and CASA a large collection of meaningful artwork and stories to review. The strength of the submissions led organizers to expand the contest from one winning design to two.
“He expanded it this year to not just one, but two,” Green said of Herzlich.
Ani and Layla were chosen after the entries went through several rounds of review. Green said the story attached to each drawing played a major role in the selection.
“It’s about the story and the reason why,” Green said when the winners were announced. “That is really truly what is important.”
Green said Elliott’s Jewelers provides each winner with an original, professionally created piece inspired by the student’s artwork.
“It is such an opportunity that Elliott does for us and for our kids,” she said.
Previous winners establish a growing tradition
Organizers also pointed to jewelry created for previous winners, giving those attending Thursday’s presentation a look at how student artwork can become a finished keepsake.
The first contest in 2024 was won by Sarah Eunice Santos, then a 10-year-old student at Huntsville Intermediate School. Her design was inspired by the love and care she received from her family.
In 2025, Breslyn Trevino and Madelei Marti were selected.
Breslyn’s drawing became a detailed necklace covered in stones. Madelei’s heart-shaped piece honored her mother’s battle with cancer. Both finished necklaces were presented in August 2025.
The growing collection of finished jewelry now tells the story of the contest itself. Each piece began as a child’s drawing and became a lasting reminder of family, courage, remembrance or love.
A fourth-generation jeweler helps carry on the work
Herzlich was unable to attend Thursday’s presentation, but his son, John Michael Coleman, represented Elliott’s Jewelers and helped present Ani’s necklace.
Coleman is learning the jewelry business from his father and continuing a craft that now reaches four generations of their family.
“Elliott is the best person possible to learn from,” Coleman said. “He’s got 40 years of experience. I am now a fourth-generation jeweler learning from the best.”
Coleman said working alongside his father has allowed him to see the role Elliott’s Jewelers plays throughout the community.
“It’s really exciting to see what he does, not only in the business, but outside of it in projects like these,” Coleman said. “Getting to work side by side with CASA and the philanthropy part of it, I really enjoy getting to see that side more.”
Elliott’s Jewelers combines craftsmanship with personal stories
Elliott’s Jewelers specializes in personal jewelry design, including custom engagement rings, diamond upgrades and new pieces created from family heirlooms. The Huntsville business offers one-on-one consultations that connect each piece with the story of the person who will wear it.
That emphasis on personal meaning is reflected in Sketches to Sparkles. A student begins with an idea on paper, shares the story behind it and then watches Elliott’s Jewelers interpret the drawing as a wearable keepsake.
Turning a student’s artwork into jewelry requires Herzlich to preserve the meaning while making structural changes that allow the piece to be durable, comfortable and wearable.
“Each piece is a challenge because you have to express the essence of what they drew,” Herzlich explained when Ani and Layla were selected. “Sometimes what they drew is not mechanically making sense, so we have to interpret that.”
Elliott’s Jewelers has also supported other Huntsville-area nonprofit projects, including fundraising efforts for the Care Center and local Rotary initiatives.
Coleman said CASA’s focus on children makes the partnership especially important to his family.
“The children are our future,” he said. “In the community that we live in and that we have family in, we want to help develop it, and we want to help develop the future of this community as well.”
Helping the community see CASA’s mission
Kim Weiser, executive director of CASA of Walker, San Jacinto and Trinity Counties, said the contest gives local families an accessible way to learn about the organization.
Much of CASA’s advocacy takes place privately because it involves children in foster care, court proceedings and sensitive family circumstances. Sketches to Sparkles provides a public point of connection centered on creativity and children.
“We really love being able to offer this opportunity for the entire community to be a part of what we do here at CASA,” Weiser said. “So much of what we do tends to be behind closed doors.”
Weiser said the contest allows children and families to hear CASA’s name and participate in one of its community programs.
“This gives an opportunity for all the kids and all the families in Huntsville to not only hear our name, but to be a part of the things that we’re doing here,” Weiser said. “It’s a really special opportunity, and we’re glad that Elliott partners with us to make this happen every year.”
About Elliott’s Jewelers
Elliott’s Jewelers is a Huntsville-based personal jeweler specializing in custom designs, engagement rings, diamond upgrades and transforming family heirlooms into new pieces. Owner Elliott Herzlich brings 40 years of experience to the business and supports local organizations through partnerships such as CASA’s Sketches to Sparkles Jewelry Design Contest. For more information, visit elliottsjewelers.com.
About CASA
CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates. The local nonprofit recruits and trains volunteers who are appointed by judges to advocate for children who have experienced abuse or neglect and entered the foster care system.
Advocates gather information from the people involved in a child’s life, monitor the child’s well-being and provide recommendations focused on the child’s best interests. They may remain involved until the child reaches a safe and permanent placement.
CASA of Walker, San Jacinto and Trinity Counties states that its mission is to provide trained, court-appointed volunteer advocacy to every abused and neglected child in the custody of Children’s Protective Services. Its vision is “a safe, permanent, nurturing home for every child.”
The organization serves Walker, San Jacinto and Trinity counties. Green said CASA is currently serving about 70 children and has served more than 500 children during the past several years.
“We are the voice that can advocate for those children,” Green said.
CASA is headquartered at 2515 Pine Shadows Drive in Huntsville. Information about volunteering, donating or supporting the organization is available at casaofwalkercounty.org or by calling 936-291-2272.
For Ani and her family, the contest’s mission now has a tangible reminder: a necklace formed from a young artist’s imagination and a story about love that will never end.