Award winning fifth grade Heart Smart Art students honored
PHOTO BY STEVE STEINER
Steve Koury, a resident of Polk County whose artwork is part of collections by celebrities such as Clint Eastwood, Kenny Rogers and Ted Turner, praises the students whose artwork he stands in front of.
PHOTO BY STEVE STEINER
Salli Byrd, with Florida Heart Research Institute, was among those, along with Staci Ehrenkrantz (also with the Florida Heart Research Institute), Joe Tedder to recognize and honor the three students whose designs were selected the best.
PHOTO BY STEVE STEINER
Angelic Minjarez (foreground) displays her winning entry. She is accompanied (from left) Joe G. Tedder, Stephen Koury and Sallie Byrd.
PHOTO BY STEVE STEINER
Shawntel Mathews (center) is all smiles as she displays her award-winning artwork. With her (from left) are Polk County Tax Collector Joe G. Tedder, world renown artist and Polk County resident Stephen Koury, and Florida Heart Reserach Institute representatives Sallie Byrd and Staci Ehrenkrantz.
PHOTO BY STEVE STEINER
From left, Sallie Byrd, Shawntel Mathews, Joe G. Tedder, Stephen Koury, Angelic Minjarez and Staci Ehrenkrantz stand in front of the display all the tag art plates available for purchase. The tag art entries raise awareness of heart disease, while proceeds are returned to Polk County Public Schools schools and go toward art programs and projects.
PHOTO BY STEVE STEINER
This year's entries by fifth grade students throughout Polk County are on display at the Polk County Tax Collectors Office for the awards ceremony held Friday, Jan. 18.
It was a special occasion at the main branch of the Polk County Tax Collector’s Office in Bartow on Friday, Jan. 18. No, delinquent taxes were not being forgiven, nor was there a moratorium being declared on having to pay taxes at all. What took place was the annual Heart Smart Art awards ceremony.
“We’ve been doing this now for seven years, and it just keeps getting better and better,” said Martha Roe Burke, Director of the Compliance and Taxpayer Affairs division of the Tax Collector’s Office. Before she introduced Polk County Tax Collector Joe G. Tedder, Burke thanked Douglas Screen Printers for taking the artwork by Polk County fifth grade students and turning them into license tags. She also spoke how the program had expanded. “We now are in five counties.”
