By: Crystal Toussant
HOUSTON-The City of Houston rewarded the winners of The Public Service Recognition Week (PSRW) Kid’s Poster Contest at a ceremony in the beautiful Legacy Room at City Hall. This contest is for the relatives of City Workers. Every artist was asked to draw themselves as a City Employee. The artwork entries were meant to celebrate the contributions of City Workers. This marks the first time after two years of hosting the ceremony virtually that it was held in person. The guest speaker was the Executive Assistant Chief Michelle McLeod of the Houston Fire Department, who really inspired every little artist in the room. She thanked every artist for celebrating the contributions of City Workers on every level with their awesome artwork.
The PSRW Kid’s Poster Contest winners were announced from Third Place to First Place. Each winner received a copy of their framed winning artwork and a gift bag. There were five categories, and the ages ranged from five-year-old to 18-year-old. The first-place winners were Prithak Tripathi for Construction Manager (five years old), Sara Echeverria Torres for Covid 19 Vaccine age (seven years old), Anna Jiaqi Wang for Promote a Walkable Houston, Jayden Jason Onyekwelu for Police Are Our Brave Heroes (11 years old), Chloe’ Marsai Toussant for Future Councilwoman of District D (13 years old), and Elizabeth Sierra for Jobs Around the City (15 years old).  Every student did extraordinary work and every parent beamed with pride as their little ones accepted their awards.
During the ceremony, the HR Director, Jane Cheeks made a few remarks and passed out the prizes to the winners. The Artwork was amazing, full of detail, color, and imagination. Prize Sponsors were Blick Art, Children’s Museum of Houston, Cypress Trails, Gringo’s Tex Mex, Houston Arboretum & Nature Center, Houston Astros, Houston Metropolitan Federal Credit Union, Houston Rockets, Houston Television (HTV), Ice Skate Memorial City, Kroger, Lone Star Flight Museum, Mayor’s Office, Mc Donald’s, Scavenger Hunt Houston, & Splash Kids Art. Every sponsor contributed to the Super Deluxe good bags that the winners received.
These young artists are blossoming talents that were ready to compete and capitalized on their opportunity to share their art with the Houston Community and the world. Chloe’ Marsai, the winner of the 13 – 14-year-old competition is quite an artist in her own right. Chloe’ Marsai is presently being featured in the Dyslexia Exhibit at the John P. McGovern Health Museum in a digital display of Art that highlights students from all over Texas that were chosen to be a part of their exhibit. She also just received the coveted letter from the Museum of Fine Arts Houston’s Glassell School of Art that awarded her a scholarship to study Art in their prestigious program. She is just one example of the many great things are youth are doing.
Lastly, every student that placed 1st through 3rd was celebrated and acknowledged. It is important to congratulate every student who submitted work because achieving your goals starts with the first step. Congratulations to the award winners and all participants of the PSRW Kid’s Poster Contest. Every student did their best and we are so proud of the youth who participated.
