A student at Union Public Schools is the designer of the district's new Redhawks logo, after the board voted to officially approve it on March 7. The district picked the Redhawks name in 2021.

11th grade student Caiden Morales said he still can't believe his Redhawks logo is the one everyone liked the most. He can't wait to see it displayed in school.

It all started with this iPad and encouragement from Caiden Morales' parents.

"I've been drawing and sketching since I was 5 or 6," he said.

The Union Redskins logo and mascot was retired in 2020. Last year, the community and district overwhelmingly chose Redhawks for the new name.

Caiden started sketching what a Redhawk logo could look like for Union.

"I was trying to see how I could form that into a simplified logo," said Caiden.

Caiden even took it a step further, by adding animation and sound to his design before submitting it.

"I was happy with the finished product -- I thought it looked sharp," he said.

The school leaders agreed. Caiden's name went to the top of the list.

From there, the district put him to work tweaking the design. Caiden often worked in this classroom, encouraged by marketing teacher Jennifer Fisher.

"You can see what he designed, he was truly doing it because he loves this district," Fisher said.

"It was a long process, but it was worth it," Caiden said.

After making it official, the board members introduced Caiden to the community and showed off what he's been working on for many months.

"He really represents the spirit of Union and how we are," Fisher said.

Caiden's design will be displayed on uniforms, buildings, t-shirts. It will be there for years to come. For a lifetime Union student, Caiden is honored to have left his mark on the district.

"It's one of those things where you leave your mark," he said. "I'm gonna have something at the school to keep -- it's historical."

Caiden is also on the cross-country team and loves soccer and MMA fighting. His goal is to eventually have a career as a graphic designer or animator.