SACO — Boarding student Carlotta Spallanzani came to Thornton Academy for a year from Italy to improve her English language skills and experience American culture, and discovered she had a talent for digital art.

Spallanzani, who graduated on Monday, created the winning design for a competition to create the new logo for the Saco Meals program.

The Saco Meals Program provides free meals to all interested community members on Mondays and Thursdays at Most Holy Trinity Church, 271 Main St., Saco. Doors open at 4:15 for socialization, and dinner is served at 4:45. Monthly menus are published online.

Spallanzani’s design features a dinner plate with a fork to the left and a knife and spoon to the right. Above the plate are two clasped hands, symbolizing the sense of community at the dinners and the idea of giving a hand when needed, said Spallanzani.

The design was chosen from more than 85 entries submitted by students in Lori Smith’s digital design class at Thornton Academy.

“I was surprised to learn that I won. There are so many amazing students, and this was my first year taking digital design,” she said.

Spallanzani said she’s always loved to draw, but wasn’t able to pursue digital design while attending school in her hometown near Milan, Italy. Smith’s class was one of the opportunities she took advantage of in her year at Thornton Academy, which she said had more options than the school she attended in Italy.

Though digital design was her favorite class, she also enjoyed her other coursework at Thornton Academy.

“The school is fantastic,” said Spallanzani.

There were some adjustments to make, she said, as there are some differences in the Italian and American school systems. In Italy, grading is more focused on oral examinations, said Spallanzani.

 She enjoyed living in a dormitory on campus, where she got to know people her age from all over the country.

“I loved living in the dorms. I made a lot of friends. There was always someone to cry with, or to do pranks,” she said.

And though she graduated from Thornton Academy this week, Spallanzani will attend high school for another year once she returns home to Italy. In Italy, high school runs five years, she said.

After she graduates high school in Italy, Spallanzani will pursue college, and then plans to work at Interacciai, her family’s steel distribution business.

Publisher Liz Gotthelf can be reached at newsdesk@sacobaynews.com.