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Artwork by Melanie Rose Hampton, Honorable Mention Winner Category 4th-5th Grade

Forgive me for not being able to get a comic done for today, but it has been a whirlwind of activity here at Smart Poodle Publishing for several weeks! Do you have any idea what it takes to process 176 entries, choose the winners, post the winning stories and artwork, blast out emails and press releases, visit schools, generate certificates, mail prizes, return original artwork, thank a lot of people and answer hundreds of emails from entrants?

Well I do! And I have to say it is all very exciting, albeit time consuming. It was worth every minute. Children have a way with words and pictures that adults do not. Their honesty and creativity is captivating. Children see the world in such a refreshing way that we adults often can’t comprehend. What’s more wholesome than reading a story about a sloth, a millipede and a toucan who save the rain forest? What’s more inspiring than colorful artwork of rain forest animals painted by tiny hands? In case you didn’t already notice, I love children!  Actually I adore them!

Now that the contest is over, we can reflect upon what we accomplished. There are 176 children in the US who now know a lot about the plants and animals of Costa Rica’s rain forest. They know how to do research, write an essay and site the resources they used for information. I never did that when I was in elementary school.

I must thank some teachers, who worked tirelessly, teaching their students about the rain forest and getting them exciting about researching, writing and drawing. The amount of work it took on their part to get these projects done, emailed, signed and mailed on a massive scale was overwhelming:

  • Rachel Pulido from Summit Questa Montessori, Davie, FL (I visited te school on Wednesday, and the children are so adorable!)
  • Steven Noyes and Nicole Thompson from Naples Village School, Naples, FL (I visited the school yesterday, and it is a wonderful place to be!)
  • Jane Kamp and Ms. Ryan from Lake Park Baptist School, Lake Park, FL
  • Victoria Arrietta and Celeste Mims from Dietz Elementary School, Tucson AZ
  • Teresa Speer from Reagan Magnet School, Odessa, TX

I’d also like to thank our wonderful judges for volunteering so much time to read and evaluate the entries with honesty and objectivity:

  • Ronna Mandel -  Associate Editor at LA Parent, blogger at Good Reads with Ronna, featuring children’s book reviews
  • Dr. Jessie Voigts – Publisher of Wandering Educators, photographer extraordinaire
  • Tim Lytle – Publisher of The Real Costa Rica Website, blogger and manager of The Association of the Residents of Costa Rica Forums
  • Eli Gerzon -  Travel expert who takes families on World School Travel Tours and is an advocate of “unschooling.”
  • Tim Ravenna – Well-traveled award-winning artist and designer, photographer and founder of Ravenna Design, art and graphic design studio.
  • Dave Fox – Award-winning freelance travel, humor writer, teacher and tour guide.
  • Rachel Glade – High school senior, PSAT National Merit Semifinalist, AP Scholar with Distinction, pianist and sitarist, and my incredibly supportive and helpful daughter.

Also a thank you to my dear friend, Teresa Blain from Visualize World Geography for helping to spread the word about our contest in her state of Texas. And my friend and brilliant web designer, Michael Knauf, who dropped everything to get pages and pages of essays, photos and illustrations up on our website in no time flat. (Check out his family’s performing arts summer camp, French Woods. It is the best performing arts camp on the planet.)

Most of all I would like to thank Rand Mcnally for generously donating such fabulous prizes! Rand McNally is one of our nation’s best companies. Their purpose is to educate us by offering the highest quality geography and travel products available anywhere in the world.

Without Rand McNally, we wouldn’t know where we are going!

Thank you Rand McNally!! You’re awesome!

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