Haidee Clauer, a seventh-grade student at the Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy, was one of 12 students from across the country to win an iPad in the “Voices & Visions” art initiative contest sponsored by the Harold Grinspoon Foundation. HGF is the sponsor of PJ Library, a very popular program coordinated locally by the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City.
Haidee was presented with her iPad at a ceremony held at HBHA last month. Two other girls from the area, both 9 when they entered the contest, received honorable mention for their posters — Abigail Kreisler and Sarah Gordon.
The “Make-A-Poster” contest was open to children ages 7 to 12. The top 12 winners received iPads. Voices & Visions invited children from across the United States to make a drawing, painting or collage expressing their idea of Tikkun Olam — making our world a better place.
Haidee’s poster “shows people working as a team to clear away the clouds and paint a rainbow (symbolizing happiness).”
“The main message I wanted to convey is that bad things happen but you have to be able to go out and make good things happen,” Haidee explained.
Haidee, the daughter of Mirra Klausner and Todd Clauer, entered the contest because it sounded interesting and she really likes art. Originally she thought she was one of 12 finalists for an iPad before she and her family realized each of the 12 finalists actually won an iPad. She is enjoying her prize.
“It’s so awesome,” she said. “It’s real easy to do research on for school and check my emails.”
Karen Gerson, CAJE/Jewish Federation’s director of informal education, noted that it is very exciting that one of the 12 winners and two of the runner ups in this inaugural contest are budding Kansas City artists.
Haidee’s poster, along with the other 11 winners and 50 other runners-up, is featured on the “Voices & Visions” website. They can be viewed at www.voices-visions.org/make-poster.
The Harold Grinspoon Foundation is best known for its PJ Library program, through which 100,000 children receive free high-quality Jewish children’s books each month, thanks to a unique partnership between local Jewish communities and HGF.
The Voices & Visions program is one of HGF’s newest initiatives. In the same way that PJ Library books have brought Jewish values, traditions and history into the home, it is the foundation’s hope that these posters will continue the conversations both in the home and in community gatherings.
“The idea behind the artwork is also to feel good about being Jewish and to see a strong connection between literacy and the arts. They are cultural soul mates, and they create an opportunity to dialogue, discover and discuss,” said Madeline Calabrese, director of Voices & Visions.