Kids Tag Art honors island fifth-graders, others
The Lee County Tax Collector and Foundation for Lee County Public Schools honored 83 fifth-graders with awards of distinction for their designs in the Kids Tag Art program. The top two students from every participating school were recognized at a ceremony on April 6 at the Dunbar Community School.
The Sanibel School students Teagan Clark and Zane Kaplan were honored at the event.
The fundraising program inspires fifth-graders to design their own specialty tag license plates fashioned after Florida’s 100 specialty plates. Students learn how the plates support deserving causes, and their designs are turned into tags that can be placed on the front of a vehicle.
“We are proud to promote the arts in our schools while at the same time educating students,” Lee County Tax Collector Noelle Branning said. “The creativity of these fifth-graders is wonderful to see, and we are thrilled to donate dollars directly back into the arts programs at their schools.”
This year, the program raised $15,000 and each school’s art teacher will receive $400.
“The arts are so important and an integral part of a good education for so many of our students,” foundation President and Chief Executive Officer Marshall Bower said. “This awesome Kids Tag Art program allows these fifth-graders to explore and express their own creativity. The fact that we are able to return funds to the art classrooms is an added bonus.”
Lee County’s Kids Tag Art program has been in existence since 2015 and, to date, has granted approximately $170,000 to art teachers at participating elementary schools in the district.