I started submitting my student's artwork for the national Insights Art Contest in conjunction with the American Printing House for the Blind Conference. Every year, I had at least one or two win awards, which was pretty exciting for me because it meant getting to see kids fly on a plane for the first and possibly only time in their lives. They also rode on trains, escalators, elevators, and walked for miles using their canes in an unfamiliar city.
This year, there was no Insights Art Contest, but the Georgia Vision Teachers Educators Training (GVEST) conference committee offered me a venue to showcase my student's work at a state level. I'm always looking for new venues and chances to show off what they've been working on, so I set up a table, and put out a voting box for the hundreds of attendees to help choose a favorite.
The results are in and other than a cash prize for the first place, it was just certificates and pats on backs. I don't discount the value of a pat though. Students need a chance to be recognized even if it is just in front of their class. They need a chance to show off their work. This is a line on a resumé, and it's the 3rd college campus some of my students have shown their work in the past 2 years, which is something I would have loved to have done when I was in high school. Letting otherwise marginalized kids have a chance to shine makes my heart happy.
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