by Jean Sealey
Special to Realty/Builder Connection
Vibrant color, attention to detail and a home on the waterfront are components of Kylie Elliott’s dream home. Kylie, 11, is a fifth-grade student at Hendricks Methodist Day School and his drawing won first place in the annual Northeast Florida Builders Association Parade of Homes Coloring Contest.
Kylie will receive $100 as the first-place winner.
“We always look forward to the Coloring Contest entries,” said Thompson Taylor, NEFBA Coordinator for the Parade of Homes and related activities. “These students have some very interesting ideas. They all show a lot of creativity and imagination. It’s always hard to narrow the field to select the winners.”
The Coloring Contest is open to fifth graders on the First Coast and is held in conjunction with the Parade of Homes to focus attention on homeownership. The contest is also intended to stimulate students to consider the building industry as a career.
“The class discussion we had while working on this project was very interesting and lively,” said Cynthia Royce Smith, an art teacher at Charles E. Bennett Elementary School in Green Cove Springs. “This activity might help a student decide to become a builder or an architect.”
The second-place winner was Brayte Singletary, a fifth-grade student at Beaches Episcopal School. Brayte will receive $50.
Stephanie Wit of Hendricks Methodist Day School, Haley McKissack of Montclair Elementary, Chao Chen of Charles E. Bennett Elementary and Ary Nabizadeh of Hendricks Methodist Day School won honorable-mention awards of $25 each.