Escambia County Tax Collector Janet Holley and Escambia School Superintendent Malcolm Thomas recognized the 2016 Kids Tag Art winners at the Escambia County School Board meeting on Thursday, May 17, 2016. Kids Tag Art is a countywide art design contest and fundraising project exclusively for fifth graders. The award-winning designs are now on sale to the public. “This year’s 5th graders have created terrific works of art, and everyone in Escambia County can show their pride by ordering a tag,” stated Holley.
Now into its third year, this year’s art collection encompasses student creative designs from 17 elementary schools throughout the county. Each school submits two winners, and from these designs Holley chose Keandrea Peazant, Longleaf Elementary as the “Tax Collector’s Choice” winner and Thomas selected Hayden Ballinger, McArthur Elementary, as the “Superintendent’s Choice” winner. All other school winners are designated as “Awards of Distinction” recipients. All winning designs are available to order at EscambiaTaxCollector.com. Funds raised from the tag sales directly support arts education in Escambia County. All money raised will help supplement art classroom teaching resources.
Kids Tag Art is an elementary school art project that inspires fifth grade students to design their own specialty plate, learning the practical application of tag art and fashioned after Florida’s 121 specialty license plates. This program, initiated by Holley, is modeled after a program started by the Polk County Tax Collector. She partnered with Thomas to offer this unique curriculum in Escambia County.
“The value of the program is to teach children about specialty plates and how they support worthy causes,” said Holley. “It also provides them with the opportunity to be creative in graphic design.”
For more information on the Kids Tag Art Program or to order a tag, click here.