Ashland students honored for artwork in county dog shelter coloring were publicly honored Thursday by the Ashland County Board of Commissioners and officials from the county dog shelter for submitting the winning entries in a shelter-themed coloring contest designed to connect schools and families with the shelter’s work.

The recognition came during a commissioners’ meeting where the students were photographed with elected officials and shelter staff and received $15 gift cards to Domino’s and Dairy Queen. Organizers said the winning coloring pages will be displayed in the Ashland County Board of Commissioners office through the end of December to showcase the students’ contributions to a countywide community-engagement initiative.

The contest was introduced earlier in November when Shannon Hamilton, the shelter’s manager, visited one of the district’s elementary schools accompanied by Opal, a Pitbull mix currently in the shelter’s care. The in-person visit, which included a supervised appearance by the dog, was intended to make the contest interactive and to encourage participation from young artists by giving them a direct connection to the animals the shelter serves.

“I hope to make the coloring contest a regular event and wants to increase community engagement efforts in general,” Hamilton said at the meeting, describing the program as an ongoing outreach effort. Deputy Curtis Hall of the Ashland County Sheriff’s Office, which partnered on the project, said the goal was to bring elements of the shelter into schools. “We wanted to take as much of the shelter to the schools and get them involved in something,” Hall said.

Officials described the coloring contest as part of a broader outreach calendar that relied on collaboration among shelter staff, school teachers, law enforcement outreach personnel and volunteers. Art programs in schools contribute to community engagement by creating partnerships among teachers, students, artists, volunteers and local organizations, and by using exhibits, performances and contests to involve families and community members in school-based activities, organizers said.

The program offered multiple touchpoints: a classroom visit and introduction to the shelter and its animals, a creative assignment for students to complete at school or at home, and public recognition at a county meeting. The presence of Opal during the school visit served as a hands-on element of that outreach, allowing students to see and learn about a dog that might eventually be adopted.

Organizers said the contest also served an educational purpose, introducing children to the shelter’s mission and encouraging empathy for animals. They emphasized that outreach like this can help the public better understand why shelters exist and the kinds of needs they address. Animal shelters in local communities typically face overcrowding, high intake rates exceeding adoptions, and resource shortages including funding, staffing and veterinary services; outreach and community support are often cited as ways to increase adoptions and volunteer involvement.

Officials pointed to other opportunities where students can engage their art skills in community causes. Students can participate in art contests like the Deck The Bins Student Art Contest, which invites young artists to submit designs that promote environmental awareness and places winning designs on public trash receptacles with cash prizes and public display, organizers said as an example of similar community-driven programs.

The county’s display of the winning coloring pages will remain in the commissioners’ office through December, providing families and residents visiting county government offices an opportunity to see the entries. Shelter and county officials framed the recognition as a small but concrete step toward broader efforts to increase community involvement with the shelter and to provide young people with meaningful ways to contribute to local civic life.

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