When art students at suburban Round Lake High School were asked to help design a custom Lotería deck to celebrate Latino Heritage Month in collaboration with the Bears' brand creative team, no one expected the project to come together as quickly—or as meaningfully—as it did.
The collaboration is the latest chapter in an ongoing relationship between the Bears and Round Lake. The team has engaged with the school through various community initiatives, including Latino Heritage Month and girls flag football in previous years. This year, the Bears' brand creative department — led on this project by designers Marlon Bennett and Pawinee Dela Cruz — invited students to co-create a Bears-themed Lotería set that blended culture, fandom and design.
For the Bears' brand creative team, this collaboration was more than an art project. It was about showing students that the sports industry extends beyond the field.
"I think the importance of it, one is the representation of the community, the Latino community," said Bennett. "Just showing them the different opportunities there are working in sports just outside of being on the actual field."
Within just a few weeks, the students joined forces to bring the idea to life. The goal: create a Bears-themed version of Lotería, the Mexican game similar to Bingo, that celebrated both culture and creativity.
Faced with a tight deadline, the students' collective mindset was "'How can we all work together to finish all these products to show everyone the best of what our Round Lake art students have?'" said Round Lake art teacher Ginger Culp. "That was really powerful, that they collaborate so well together."
For students Jayden Taylor, Kairi Trujillo, Evelyn Avalos, Evelyn Martinez and Faith Rivera, this was an opportunity to unite as a class. Bennett and Dela Cruz guided them through the creative process — offering professional feedback, keeping the project on deadline and demonstrating what design work looks like inside an NFL franchise.
For a school in a small town like Round Lake, the opportunity to collaborate with one of Chicago's sports teams felt monumental.
"It's such a huge opportunity to have gone to work with something so big, because we're something so small," said Taylor, a Round Lake senior. "And it was just so great that we were able to create such a beautiful and colorful thing that brought so many different people together."
The final deck blended Bears branding with cultural icons and local pride. Some of the cards included Round Lake staples like Sammie's, a Chicago hot dog restaurant, an elote cart and paletas de payaso (clown ice cream pops). Each piece represents not just Hispanic heritage, but each student's personality.
The deck also included Bears elements such as a bear paw, the iconic wishbone "C" logo and even a sketch of Hall of Fame head coach Mike Ditka's mustache. Each drawing carefully mixed football, the Bears and Hispanic culture.
For Rivera, the project hit close to home.
"My stepdad is a huge Bears fan," she said, smiling. "And when I first told him, he was so excited for me … being included in this Bears project, that's my greatest experience."
The deck was unveiled during a Fiesta at Round Lake, where the students had the opportunity to showcase their work and play Lotería.
Gustavo Silva, Bears director of football development, said initiatives like this are essential for the Bears building authentic relationships with local schools.
"We want to continue to find authentic ways in which we can partner with students," he said.
The collaboration was a meaningful experience not just for the Round Lake students, but for the educators as well.
"It gave the kids an opportunity to teach me more about their heritage," said Culp. "It's been a lot of fun. it's been good community building for our class."
"For them to be able to have this moment, to be so proud and to share that with so many people—I mean, it means everything. That's why we do what we do… Even with the difficult timeline of this, like, the time crunch… I am not going to turn away a chance for the kids to shine."
