At South Loop Middle School in Chicago, 5th and 6th grade social studies teacher Jason Madel knew his students were big fans of Wicked. When he heard about NBCU Academy’s Wicked: For Good poster contest for U.S. middle and high schools, Madel told his class about it. Three weeks later, 6th grader and Wicked superfan Oliver Geiger brought his completed poster in after working diligently on it during that time.
“Oliver actually didn’t mention anything to me and just brought in the poster one day,” Madel said. “And I was just blown away by it.”
Geiger’s elaborate poster was selected as the winning submission in the contest’s national middle school category. In the high school category, a stunning poster by Percy Duphily was selected as the national winning entry. Duphily is a student in Brendan Flynn’s Design & Visual Communications junior class at Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School in Taunton, Massachusetts.
The competition was a collaboration between Universal Pictures and NBCU Academy. It encouraged U.S. middle and high school students to showcase their creativity and storytelling skills by using any artistic medium, from hand-drawing to mixed media, to bring the world of Oz to life. It’s part of NBCU Academy’s mission to develop creativity and inspire the next generation of talent in journalism, storytelling, film and TV.
The students’ schools received 35 Fandango gift cards to see the epic conclusion, Wicked: For Good, starring Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda, which opened in theaters on Nov. 21st.
Across 25 U.S. states, over 2,000 students in grades 6 through 12 completed artwork, which was wholly original; use of existing Wicked: For Good art or AI was not allowed. Teachers like Madel and Flynn guided the students through embracing Wicked: For Good’s themes and expressing those concepts through visuals. Then, the instructors were able to submit up to 10 posters from their class earlier this month.
Francisco Gomez, a teacher at Maryland’s Parkdale High School, appreciated the opportunity to communicate and tell stories through visual design. He guided his Media Arts Production class students through the contest.
“The contest really motivated them to think critically and collaborate as a team,” he said in a testimonial. “As their teacher, it was inspiring to see how proud they were of their final projects and how much they grew throughout the process. Opportunities like this remind us how meaningful it is when students see their classroom work connected to the real world.”
The Wicked films’ pop culture relevance helped the contest build on the mission of NBCU Academy’s recent program, The Edit. Both programs inform and inspire young students to create content, gain crucial digital skills and build the confidence to share meaningful stories.
I caught up with the teachers who submitted the winning entries in the Wicked: For Good poster contest to find out the inspiration behind their students’ posters and what they learned along the way.
Middle School Winning Teacher: Jason Madel, 5th and 6th grade social studies teacher at South Loop Middle School in Chicago
Geiger loves the magical world of Wicked, especially the large window in the Emerald City during the first film’s “Defying Gravity” finale. For his poster, Madel said the colors, patterns and textures of the Emerald City inspired his poster, which features intricate patterns and shapes, highlighting the film’s green and pink motifs.
“He loves the magical feel of the movie,” Madel said, after speaking with Geiger. “He thinks the songs are amazing and the costumes are incredible.”
Geiger’s poster was selected as the top middle school entry and, according to Madel, the student became emotional when he heard he received the honor out of all the participating middle schoolers. The South Loop Middle School principal made the big announcement to all the classrooms.
“In general, the school was really just happy for him and thrilled that all his effort and talent, hard work came to fruition,” Madel said.
High School Winning Teacher: Brendan Flynn, Design & Visual Communications teacher at Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School in Taunton, MA
While setting up his homeroom in the morning, Flynn received the news about Duphily, a junior, having the top high school Wicked: For Good poster. His class of eight had been anxiously awaiting the results and kept asking him about it, but that morning, he finally had good news for them.
“And I said that, y’all did a great job…but Percy got first,” he said. “She just started crying and the class just all cheered and hugged her.”
In the afternoon, Duphily and the school’s achievement was announced to the whole school via the PA system, ending with the conclusion, “It reminds all of us that everyone deserves a chance to fly.” Flynn is in the process of coordinating a field trip for the students to see Wicked: For Good with the Fandango gift cards they won from the contest.
Duphily’s poster was one of seven submissions from Flynn’s Design & Visual Communications junior class. Flynn started the process by leading a brainstorm about what “For Good” meant to everyone in the movie’s title.
“I started writing what they had to say, and there was a lot of language in there that I really loved,” he said. “The one that we focused a lot on in time was integrity, and I remember it because when it came up, we got into a passionate discussion about how we as individuals need to be responsible for not just our words, but our actions.”
From there, Flynn’s students created their designs in thumbnails, ensuring the students used the principles he had been teaching, like dividing space, the rule of thirds, negative space, and planning ahead when it comes to typography and other design elements.
“Because what we find with young designers is they’re so excited to get going, but they haven’t stopped and thought through their process,” he said. “There was a lot of collaboration going on. They were all chatting with each other, and they were all proud of it.”
About The Edit
Launched in April 2024, The Edit is a global digital storytelling challenge for middle and high school students from Sky, NBCU Academy and Adobe. Since its premiere, the program has reached over 30,000 students in all 50 U.S. states.
The Edit is currently in its third year. In Fall 2024 and Spring 2025, the initiative empowered young people to create their own 90-second video news reports about Physical, Mental or Financial Wellbeing using Adobe Express.
For each contest, three winning high schools and three winning middle schools were chosen for their outstanding video news reports on the topic and they received prizes from NBCU Academy and Adobe, including GoPros and Fandango gift cards. In 2026, The Edit will relaunch, focusing on sports.
