Summer on our minds

Eliza Allen, Caylee Provence, and Lilli Evans are The Reporter’s Young Artists of the Month for June. All three are students of Hamilton Heights Middle School art teacher Erin Goodman. (Reporter photo)

Young Heights artists embrace the season for The Reporter’s contest

By STU CLAMPITT
news@readthereporter.com

As is now true one week of each month, the tops of our first three pages are a little different. Our thanks go out to some talented young artists at Hamilton Heights Middle School, an art teacher who wants students to succeed, and a group of sponsors who jumped at the chance to support these young people.

At the top of the front page of every newspaper is the name of the publication and some branding known as “the flag.” It is also called the nameplate. Some people like to refer to it as the masthead. We have gone to great lengths to perfect ours, and while there may be another newspaper out there that would be willing to give that up to support young artists, we’ve never heard of it.

Without further ado (drumroll please), our June 2024 Young Artist of the Month award winners are: Eliza Allen (Page A1), Caylee Provence (Page A2), and Lilli Evans (Page A3) from Erin Goodman’s art classes at Hamilton Heights Middle School.

Summer is upon us and clearly the water is calling fifth-grader Eliza Allen, as you see at the top of Page A1.

On Page A2, fifth-grader Caylee Provence is all about the rainbows.

Fifth-grader Lilli Evans gave us an abstract design for the top of Page A3 that seems to say that sometimes summer calls to us from our DNA.

Their artwork will grace the pages of The Reporter in print and online all week long.

When we explained to potential sponsors that we were willing to give our flag away to showcase student artwork, the support was incredible. That support has grown a little each month as individuals have chipped in to help keep this contest going.

Reporter Editorial Cartoonist Tim Campbell presents a check to Hamilton Heights Middle School art teacher Erin Goodman. (Reporter photo)

Gaylor Electric, Adler Attorneys, and two private citizens – Bill Miller and Emily Pearson – are the sponsors who showed us their commitment to local artists this month by opening their checkbooks so these kids can have the time in the limelight they deserve.

In addition to having their artwork at the top of the page in Hamilton County’s Hometown Newspaper, each of these students received a framed certificate from The Reporter, signed and presented by Editorial Cartoonist Tim Campbell. They each received a gift certificate from Hobby Lobby so their parents can take them to pick out more art supplies, and a gift certificate from Bien Mexicana, 150 S. Peru St., Cicero, to go celebrate a little.

Our sponsors even allowed us to write a check to the school, which will go to Erin Goodman’s art class.

We will be back with more young artists of the month from across Hamilton County this fall. Enjoy that summer break!