Kids Tag Art - The Story

"Take a drive anywhere in Florida and your eyes take in a plethora of various license plate designs.  Florida offers over 125 different designs for license tags, the second highest of any state in the nation". 

The above quote from a recent newspaper article illustrates the popularity of state specialty tags, their creativity and the role they play as an important fundraising source for state-wide community sector non-profit organizations.  Each state specialty tag must be approved by the Florida Legislature and is distributed through local tax collector offices. Back in 2002, Joe Tedder, Tax Collector for Polk County, encouraged his staff to get involved in the Great American Teach-In, where community leaders were invited into classrooms across the county.  Randy Hunt, Tedder's Chief Deputy of Administration, spearheaded the effort with a visit to Valleyview Elementary School in south Lakeland.  There he presented an informational program to 5th graders that invited the students to create their own specialty license plate artwork.

The program was a hit in the classroom.  The children enjoyed learning more about specialty tags and designing their own.  Many of the tags were very clever and exhibited well-developed artistic composition.  Subsequently, the Tax Collector's Office began to think of a way to let everyone in on the fun!...And so the Polk County Kids Tag Art Project was born.  This project has become a great classroom art fundraiser as well as lasting representation of the children's 5th grade art, tags of which can be displayer either on the front bumper of the family car or in the child's home.  The project is designed to generate dollars that teachers can use to expand their program offerings and engage creativity. 

Heart Smart Art Award

Through the Kids Tag Art Program, a special category named "HEART SMART ART" was created just for us.  This award is presented by the Florida Heart Research Foundation honoring the student designs that best illustrate how a heart-healthy lifestyle might be depicted so while the students are creating, they are also learning at a young age about heart health and healthy living. A special Awards Ceremony is held each year in each county that has this incredible program.  We thank all the staff, teachers and especially the students for their hard work that results in tremendous accomplishments and some super artwork in this wonderful, worthy program!

Kids Tag Art is Impacting Florida and is now endorsed by the Association of Florida Tax Collectors, is now in over 14 other counties and continues to expand in Florida every year and over $1 Million has been raised for classroom art programs because of Kids Tag Art!  The Kids Tag Art Program was recognized by the Governor and Cabinet in Tallahassee in recognition of this tremendous milestone!  You can click on the button below to see article.