Mrs. Erway and her Fourth Grade Class posing as the 2022 Class Project Winners!

Each February, the Kansas Dental Association holds the KDA Drawing and Class Project Contests as a way to reward third grade students and their teachers for promoting good dental health in the classroom. This year, the contests were open to fourth grade students as well since they did not get the opportunity to participate last year due to COVID. 

Last week, on Friday, May 13, KDA staff members Niki Sadler and Sandra Romero made their way to present the First Place Award and $500 gift card to Mrs. Erway's fourth grade class of Larned Elementary School in Larned, KS. The students and teachers alike were told they would have a "Surprise Assembly" later that afternoon. As the students trickled their way into the cafeteria, hushed whispers and questions filled the hall with wonder as to what the surprise could be.

When KDA Director of Operations, Niki Sadler, announced that she and Sandra were there on behalf of the Kansas Dental Association, faces lit up and students looked in shock to one another. Sadler went on to say that every year, submissions throughout all of Kansas are sent in to the KDA office for the Class Project Contest where the CDHM Council votes on its top three favorite, but only one project would place first place and win the $500 gift card for classroom supplies!

The first place winning video project was then played before all the 4th grade students that day. Mrs. Erway's class beamed with excitement as they recognized themselves onscreen.

The fourth grade students at Larned Elementary demonstrated outstanding creativity and truly made learning about dental health fun, which is what the KDA’s Class Project Contest is all about!

Be sure to read more about this in the upcoming journal! 

The KDA Council on Children's Dental Health scores each class project received with a grading rubric, and the top 3 projects advance to the KDA Annual Meeting, where member dentists vote to determine the placement of the winners. 

1st place winners receive a $500 gift card, 2nd place winners receive a $250 gift card, and 3rd place winners receive a $100 gift card.

The winners of the 2022 KDA Class Project Contest are as follows:

1st Place
Larned Elementary School
Larned, KS

2nd Place

Central Plains Elementary School
Holyrood KS

3rd Place

Lincoln Elementary School
Hays, KS

Thank you to everyone who participated in our contests! The KDA dentists and staff are proud of your hard work and dedication to promoting good dental health.