The artwork of two Spencerport students won honors from the newly formed Office of Health Equity Research (OHER) at the University of Rochester Medical Center. OHER hosted an inaugural art contest for local students in grades K-12 to express what health equity means to them and why it’s important.
There were nine contest winners, three each in high school, middle school, and elementary school. Students received monetary prizes ranging from $25 to $200 at the award ceremony. The award winners’ schools also received monetary prizes of $250.
Carason Ware, a fifth-grader at Bernabi Elementary, won first place in the elementary category for her painting entitled, Equality as the Tree of Life. “The tree of life brings everyone together. No faces needed as we are all different but the same on the inside,” she said.
Lola Smith, an eighth-grader at Cosgrove Middle School, won second place in the middle school category.
A ceremony recognizing the contest winners was held on December 14, and there to cheer on their students were Bernabi’s Gina Caparco and Jennifer Magliocco and Cosgrove art teacher, Kathleen Shaffer-Heeks.
By hosting an art contest, the Office of Health Equity Research (OHER) aims to spark enthusiasm and engage in meaningful conversations with students, parents and teachers about specific areas of health inequity that can be addressed through the office’s research. To learn more, visit https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/clinical-translational-science-institute/diversity/office-of-health-equity-research.aspx
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