Abdul Ibrahimi, a student at Southside Middle School, has been selected as a winner in the Community Coffee Company 90th Birthday Card Art Contest.
This year, to help celebrate its 90th anniversary, Community Coffee Company invited all students in kindergarten through sixth grade to submit hand-drawn or painted art for the front of its 90th birthday card. Southside Middle art teacher Kelly Delaney discovered the contest on the Internet while researching different contests and programs for her students to enter.
“The Community Coffee Company contest was a great opportunity for students to create original artwork with the opportunity to win a laptop (the prize given to the first-place winner),” said Delaney. “I am so excited that Abdul’s work was chosen by the Community Coffee Company and that he is able to see his hard work has paid off.”
Abdul entered and won second place, beating out more than 1,200 students from throughout the Gulf Coast. His birthday card was a hand-painted and colorful image of a three-tiered birthday cake surrounded by coffee mugs.
After all the contest entries were received, an outside committee judged each submitted art piece based on its creativity, birthday-related theme and representation of the Community Coffee Company. Abdul’s painting was chosen as one of the best.
For his award, Abdul received a birthday party with every student in his grade. Students gathered in the cafeteria for birthday cake and ice cream as they watched Abdul being recognized by Jaine Page, the brand manager for Community Coffee Company.
“The Community Coffee Company is an avid supporter of education, and it is our goal to give back to the classroom, which is the foundation for our next generation of leaders,” said Page. “I am thrilled to recognize Abdul Ibrahimi for the beautiful and creative birthday card he designed to celebrate our company’s 90th anniversary.”
Winning coffee contests is not new for Southside Middle School. Last school year, two of its students, Quantum Mines and Joey Thompson, were selected as the first- and second-place winners, respectively, for the Javámo Coffees Art for Autism Contest.
“It is an honor for our students' work to be selected for very competitive state and regional contests, and it’s very exciting for all of us at Southside Middle School,” said Principal LaTanya McNeal. “We are thankful that the Community Coffee Company sponsored a contest that has given our students the opportunity to demonstrate their creative abilities and talents.”
As a thank you gift, Kelly Delaney and her students created a 3D sculpture of the cake depicted in Abdul’s winning painting that will reside at the Community Coffee Company headquarters.
Community Coffee Company was founded in 1919 in Baton Rouge by Henry Norman “Cap” Saurage, and is now the largest family-owned retail coffee brand in America. Products are available in Louisiana, Texas and the Southeast in grocery stores, offices, restaurants, hotels and convenience stores.
Community Coffee Company's ‘Community Cash for Schools’ program allows schools to earn money by collecting UPCs from the company's products and exchanging them for a cash donation to use on anything the school needs.
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