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PINELLAS COUNTY, FL – This Thursday, January 26th, Pinellas County Tax Collector Charles W. Thomas, members of his team, and the Pinellas County Schools Visual Art Department will host the 2022-2023 Kids Tag Art Pinellas awards ceremony at Largo High School. Students, teachers, and parents are invited as Thomas, community leaders, and program sponsors present awards to top student artists. 

2022 marks the eighth year of the Kids Tag art program and the first awards ceremony to be hosted in person since 2020. The program is a partnership between the Pinellas County tax collector’s office, Pinellas County schools, and generous community sponsors. Funds are raised for local elementary school art classrooms through donations and by selling artwork – unique, front-facing license plates – designed by Pinellas County fifth graders and teachers. These plates are available online at kidstagartpinellas.org with 100% of the proceeds returning to the participating art classrooms.

Previously hosted “virtually” the past two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Thomas and the Kids Tag Art team are very excited to be able to celebrate the talented students in person again. They are, however, keeping one aspect from the previous years’ ceremonies – live streaming the event on YouTube – so anyone who cannot make the ceremony will be able to watch it at their convenience.

“Kids Tag Art is really important to me and my team,” said Tax Collector, Charles W. Thomas. “This is an event that I look forward to every year and I’m thrilled to return to a live awards ceremony. Seeing how excited these students get about being recognized for their creativity – that’s what this program is all about. We love having this opportunity to give back to our community and its youngest citizens in a unique way.”

More than 2,200 5th-grade students from 49 Pinellas elementary schools participated in this year’s program and nearly 160 have received awards which will be celebrated on Thursday. Most of the student winners at the ceremony received an “Award of Excellence,” meaning their plate design was selected, by a panel of retired art teachers, as a top design from their school. Program sponsors are also invited to select student winners – either choosing a favorite from the Award of Excellence designs or creating a fun-themed category for students to participate in from which the sponsor selects a winner. The third annual teacher art contest winners will also be announced at the ceremony.

Since its inception, more than $280,000 has been raised by Kids Tag Art Pinellas for local elementary art classrooms and programs. The winning tags from each year are put on display at tax collector offices throughout the county after the awards ceremony.

This year’s Kids Tag Art program is made possible through generous community sponsors including Tag Agency of Pinellas, Direct Mail Systems, Florida Heart Research Foundation, Motor Vehicle Network, DPrint, MicroLumen, City of Largo, Office & Flooring Worx, Lauren’s Kids, Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, Grant Street Group, Bill2Pay, the Don CeSar, and more. For additional details about Kids Tag Art Pinellas, visit kidstagartpinellas.org.  Follow agency updates about Kids Tag Art Pinellas on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram - @PinellasTC.

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ABOUT THE PINELLAS COUNTY TAX COLLECTOR’S OFFICE: The Pinellas County Tax Collector’s Office is a constitutionally elected office. Responsibilities include collecting and distributing state and local taxes and providing driver license and motor vehicle registration services to Pinellas County residents. For more information, visit pinellastaxcollector.gov.

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