Eleven-year-old Cassidy Gammill of Woodland Park has long enjoyed the Symphony Above the Clouds with her family.

But this year, Tuesday’s independence celebration comprised of fireworks, Fort Carson cannons and the Colorado Springs Philharmonic will be a bit more exciting for Gammill, as those who purchase the 31st annual event T-shirts will be donning her personal design.

Gammill’s fifth grade art class at Columbine Elementary School was invited to enter a T-shirt design contest organized by the Ute Pass Symphony Guild Board, which plans the annual festival.

Gammill’s design — an American flag background with a cloud in the center featuring bursting fireworks and musical notes — stood out among about 20 entries.

To Gammill, her patriotic design represented everything that the July 5 festival, a community tradition, stands for.

“Doing artwork is just something for fun,” said Gammill, who also enjoys playing volleyball, basketball and being outdoors. “I was shocked that I actually won.”

Anywhere from 5,000 to 8,000 people are expected to pack the lawn of Woodland Park Middle School this year with chairs, blankets and snacks for the free concert and firework show.

Event planners ordered 300 shirts to sell at the event, some of which have already been swooped up at the Farmers Market.

“It’s a very popular shirt,” said board member Marilyn Dougall, who helped pick Gammill’s design and said people are happy to see an American flag on the shirt this year.

The board has selected a student design for the T-shirts the past five years, Dougall said, with Gammill being the youngest winner thus far.

“I think it gives the student a chance to really shine,” Dougall said of the contest. “A T-shirt just doesn’t go away. When she’s 35 she can say, ‘I dreamed this up years ago.’”

Aside from the excitement of being able to wear her own illustration at the festival that draws thousands, Gammill received a $50 check from the board, which she said she plans to save for as long as she can.

Gammill’s mother, Cris Gammill, accredits her daughter’s artistic eye to an art teacher she had since she was in kindergarten who instilled confidence in her.

That confidence inspired Gammill to spend a week working on the design in her free time, perfecting it until it was just how she wanted it, her mother said. Getting recognition for something she loves to do is a perk.

“I like being creative. That was my favorite part of designing it,” she said.

Gates for Symphony Above the Clouds open at 5 p.m. Irish folk group Ceol Ceili will kick  off the event at 5:30 p.m., and the symphony will play at 7:30 p.m. Fort Carson cannons and a city-sponsored firework show will follow.

Lisa Grahn, a math teacher in Vilas, Colo., and T.J. Henry, a space science teacher at Challenger Learning Center in Colorado Springs, build a Lego Mindstorms robotic car Wedensday at the Air Force Academy during STEM Camp for teachers. The three-day camp for teachers focuses on science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Photo by CHRISTIAN MURDOCK/The Gazette