Fourteen third grade students were selected as winners of the 21st annual Richland County Third Grade Coloring Contest, sponsored by Richland Newhope as part of Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month. The students were joined by their parents, teachers, principals, and even some superintendents at Newhope’s Early Childhood Center on Friday morning to celebrate with a pizza party.
“The coloring contest was designed to allow us to get our awareness message to young people as well as adults,” said Jane Imbody, Director of Community Relations. “We’re always looking for ways to reach people of all ages with that awareness message.”
The statewide theme for the coloring contest this year was “Ability@Work,” with a coloring page that featured a picture of two children playing, one of which uses a wheelchair.
The coloring page also included a message stating, “And there are people who are different, they can’t do all you do; they have a disability, but they still like the same things as you.” Imbody said Newhope received 403 entries from 14 schools around the county. The winners were selected with the help of local artist Daniel Luster of Element of Art Studio/Gallery.
This year’s coloring contest winners are: Carson Brubaker, Auburn Elementary; Ciara Appleman, Central Elementary; Mianda Zody, Crestview Elementary; Paige Hoffbauer, Dowds Elementary; Madelyn Cramer, Eastview Elementary; Chalicia Jones, Foundation Academy; Mylah Davis, Madison South Elementary; Nicholas Bishop, Mifflin Elementary; Jacob Smith, Prospect Elementary; Brooklyn Gwirtz, Sacred Heart School; Jadon Walter, Spanish Immersion School; Sarah Hahn, St. Peter’s Elementary; Alex Heichel, Western Elementary; and Zetta Anderson, Woodland Elementary.
The awards luncheon on Friday featured visits from Miss Ohio 2013 Heather Wells and Ms. Wheelchair Ohio 2013 Jessica Kelbley, and a proclamation from Shelby Mayor Marilyn John. The event also included a variety of awareness activities for students to participate in.
“We’ve really tried to step up the education level of it,” said Imbody. “When it first began it was more just the kids coming here having lunch and getting an award certificate. For a number of years now we’ve added some awareness activities.”
The activities included a station to practice fine motor skills while wearing gloves, completing an obstacle course in a wheelchair and tasting foods with various textures.
“It’s really to get them to understand that people with disabilities do face challenges, but they can often overcome those challenges through maybe doing things differently or some assistive devices,” said Imbody.
Third grader Ciara Appleman from Central Elementary School in Lexington said it was hard to maneuver around the orange cones in a wheelchair, and observed it is probably much harder for kids who are in a wheelchair all the time.
Third grader Carson Brubaker from Auburn Elementary School in Shelby performed a task of unlocking doors and stacking blocks while wearing goggles that impaired his vision, and he agreed the task was difficult.
“It’s probably really hard for people who can’t see,” he said.
Imbody said she hopes the students learn something by performing the awareness activities, and are able to take what they’ve learned and share it with their peers and family members to help spread the awareness message.
“If you stop and think about it we’re all more alike than we are different; each and every one of us have things we can do pretty well and other things that we struggle with,” she said. “We all want to be recognized and acknowledged for the things we can do, and the same holds true for people with disabilities. We need to stop thinking and focusing on what they can’t do but instead focus on their capabilities and their possibilities.”
“And there are people who are different, they can’t do all you do; they have a disability, but they still like the same things as you.”
