Release Date – Tuesday, March 7, 2023:
Now in its seventeenth (17) year, the Kids Tag Art (KTA) program, originated through the Tax Collector’s Office of Polk County, Florida, continues to inspire fifth graders throughout the county in innovative thinking and creative problem solving, all while designing their own specialty vanity license plate. This year, the vanity license plates designed by Polk County students will be available for purchase by the public at www.KidsTagArt.com on Tuesday, March 7, 2023. The community will be able to support their local, neighborhood elementary school by purchasing a vanity license plate online, as all proceeds go back into the classroom for arts education.
Continuing their support as a major sponsor for the KTA program is Southern Homes of Polk County. When asked why he supports the program, Owner Greg Masters said, “Southern Homes has been committed to the Kids Tag Art program since the very beginning. Many of our team members at Southern Homes are from Polk County, and we have a vested interest in supporting the arts. We understand the impact the arts have in every facet of a child’s development and education. If we want to continue to recruit creative, innovative problem solvers, then we need to support programs that develop well-rounded students with those skills. The Kids Tag Art program is one of those programs.” Other sponsors for the KTA program include: D-print, Bartow Ford, LEGOLAND, Florida, Big 4 Radio – 97.5 WPCV and Max 98.3, the Tax Collector for Polk County, Bill 2 Pay, MIDFLORIDA Credit Union, LAMAR Advertising Company, Polk Education Foundation, South State Bank, Florida Heart Research Foundation, Lauren’s Kids, Polk Arts Alliance, Publix Super Market Charities, Unlimited DPI, St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital/BayCare Kids, Polk County Public Schools, and the Polk Museum of Art.
Joe G. Tedder adds, “As it is now known, students who participate in the arts have higher test scores and are more likely to graduate high school and enter the workforce as innovative thinkers for today’s complex world. Art provides the context for creative problem-solving, the number one skill that Fortune 500 firms hire for today. Thankfully, we have a great team of sponsors and business partners who have so generously supported arts education in our schools through this creative program that brings value to all involved.”
The Kids Tag Art program will hold its in-person Awards of Distinction Ceremony on Thursday, May 4, 2023 at Branscomb auditorium on the campus of Florida Southern College in Lakeland and will start at 6:00 PM. This year’s Award of Distinction (AOD) recipients represent two students from each participating school across Polk County, which encompasses 156 creative tag art designs from 70 public, private, and charter schools. Overall, more than 4,094 designs were created this year – in addition to teacher tags, which the program expanded into four years ago after several art teachers expressed interest in participating alongside their students.
To date, the Kids Tag Art program in Polk County has created over 66,000 pieces of artwork through the annual participation of public, private, and charter schools. Additionally, the KTA program, designed as a supplemental classroom arts funding program, has raised over $548,000 in Polk County alone. Statewide, the program is currently in 14 counties and has raised over $1.8 Million for school art programs across the state. With interest in the program continuing to grow every year, the future of the Kids Tag Art program and its support of the arts in the state of Florida has a strong, bright future.
For those interested in viewing the 2022-2023 Kids Tag Art exhibit, which travels across the county during the school year, a calendar of exhibit dates and locations can be found online at www.KidsTagArt.com. Any business interested in hosting the exhibit in Polk County is invited to reach out at kidstagart@polktaxes.com and tag art can be purchased at www.KidsTagArt.com.
For more information, contact Brandi Haney, Project Manager at BrandiHaney@polktaxes.com or by phone at 863-534-4710.
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About the Office of Joe G. Tedder, Tax Collector for Polk County, Florida
Joe G. Tedder is elected by the people of Polk County to serve as their Tax Collector. The Office of Tax Collector is provided in Florida’s Constitution to serve in the state’s political subdivisions known as counties. The Tax Collector’s Office for Polk County has service centers in Bartow, Lakeland, Davenport, and Lake Wales. The Tax Collector’s Office serves over 720,000 residents in Polk County, offering services such as: Driver licenses and identification cards; motor vehicle registrations, decals, license plates, titles and disabled person parking placards; real estate and tangible personal property taxes; county local business taxes; tourist development taxes; concealed weapons license applications and renewals; and other services.