In honor of Exceptional Children and the 40th Birthday of Special Olympics, The Miracle League of Newton County is having an art contest to raise awareness of our exceptional children and their recreational needs. The Miracle League of Newton County is an organization striving to raise money to build an all-accessible baseball complex at City Pond for children with special needs.

The Miracle League will benefit children and youth who are physically impaired (have difficulty walking or in a wheelchair) or intellectually, hearing, and/or visually impaired.

Submitted artwork pieces will be displayed in the windows of the old Teacher’s Toolbox on the Square and at the Newton County Library during the month of May. This will coincide with the Special Olympics Opening Ceremonies at Sharp Gym (May 3), elementary school track and field events (May 4) at Eastside High School and middle and high school track and field events (May 5) at Eastside High School. Ribbons & Prizes (Downtown Covington/Main Street Bucks) will be awarded to the top three contestants in elementary, middle and high school age groups. Prizewinners will be notified by April 30 and their artwork will initially be displayed at the Special Olympics Opening Ceremonies on May 3.

Here are the rules for the Art Contest:

— Contest open to anyone 5 - 22 years old.

— Artwork can be done by individuals at home or through classes at school

— The theme of the artwork should be either:

• A child or children with special needs participating in some type of recreational activity, such as track and field events (running, jumping, softball throw, etc.), wheelchair basketball, etc. (Can use "40 Years of Champions" and/or "Special Olympics" wording in your picture)

• A child or children playing baseball (can use "Miracle League" wording in picture)

— Picture must be done on an 8.5 by 11 piece of paper

— Can use any type of medium (crayons, colored pencils, chalk, charcoal, cut up paper squares, etc.), as long as it is not 3 dimensional.

Completed artwork must be brought to the Newton Co. Recreation Commission by Friday, April 23 or the artwork will be picked up at each school from the art teachers earlier that week.

For any questions, contact Tamara Richardson with the Newton County Recreation Commission ((770) 786-4373 x 14 or trichardson@co.newton.ga.us) or Lynda Reagan with the Newton County Special Olympics at (770) 784-4954 or reagan.lynda@newton.k12.ga.us).