Young Tewksbury Artist Wins National Drawing Competition

(Editor's note: The following information was submitted by UniFirst.)

Shaylee Puleo, age 12, a student at in Tewksbury was named one of 25 winning artists in a national drawing competition sponsored by UniFirst Corporation of Wilmington.

Shaylee, who is a member of her school’s art club and will be entering the eighth grade next year, is the daughter of Cynthia and Mike Puleo of Tewksbury.

By being selected a winning artist, Shaylee was awarded a $100 Visa gift card and her drawing is being featured inside a UniFirst 2012-13 calendar. The custom company calendar is distributed to 11,000 UniFirst employee Team Partners in the U.S. and Canada.

Shaylee was recognized for her artistic talents at UniFirst’s annual Founder’s Day celebration this month. That day honors the memory of the late Aldo Croatti, who started the company on July 12, 1936; it is held on a Friday near that historic date each year and has been an annual event since Mr. Croatti’s passing in 2001.

The UniFirst drawing competition was open to youngsters 14 years of age or younger who are related to any of UniFirst’s employees in the U.S. and Canada. Shaylee’s mother, Cynthia, is a Human Resources Information Specialist at UniFirst in Wilmington.

Winning calendar drawings were selected by a corporate panel of judges following “drawing parties” held earlier this year at all UniFirst locations. All drawings were required to depict one of UniFirst’s three founding ideals: Customer Focus, Commitment to Quality, and Respect for Others.