Bowen, KY – By Brandon Farmer, Assistant Editor
A Bowen Elementary 4th Grade student has walked away as the grand prize winner in a nationwide contest that invited hundreds of students from over 250 different schools to compete in a design contest to create an imaginative and colorful dinosaur to be turned into a life-sized work of art to be installed and permanently displayed in the popular tourist hotspot at The Island in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
Hadley Ward, 9-year-old daughter of Traci Ward and Jared Farmer of Bowen, was the lucky and talented recipient of this tremendous honor. Traci explained that the contest was introduced by BES Teacher, Ms. Caudill, who challenged the students to create a fun and colorful adaptation of the featured dinosaur for this contest, the Euoplocephalus.
The Euoplocephalus is the spiky and formidable member of the ankylosaurid genus of dinosaurs. In addition to the colorful interpretation of this popular dinosaur, Hadley wrote up an evenly colorful biography for her Euoplocephalus, naming him “Alcides” and giving him a fun backstory. Hadley’s biography was published and shared as follows:
“Alcides is a Euoplocephalus who lives in Tokyo, Japan. He grew up in Liverpool, England. Since Alcides is an Ankylosaurus, he is an herbivore. His favorite foods are spinach, blackberries, peaches, birch leaves, and he loves to eat pavlova for dessert.
Alcides loves hanging out with his friends and playing Dungeons and Dragons. He likes to practice sparring and working out to stay tough to defend from T-Rex bullies and other carnivores. In his free time he enjoys playing guitar and writing songs to jam out with his friends.
Since he is an English dinosaur living in Japan, he is quite different from the other dinosaurs. He has been bullied for being so colorful but he didn’t care. He loves his colorful look. He is brave and stands up for himself. He wants people to know that it is OK to be yourself and you should learn how to stay true to yourself in the end.”
Hadley was invited to The Island in Pigeon Forge on Friday, March 6th where they unveiled Hadley’s design which has been transformed into a huge, life-sized and life-like statue of Alcides to be on permanent display in the popular and frequented pavilion in the heart of Smoky Mountain Country. In addition to hosting Hadley at this special ceremony, she also won a full VIP 2-Day Pass to The Island which includes unlimited rides, a $200 shopping spree gift card, FOUR $50 restaurant gift cards, and a 2-night stay for 4 people at the famous Margaritaville Inn.
Bowen Elementary also received a reward of $250 as part of the prize package, and Hadley got to choose how the money was used at her school. The bright, young art pupil chose to reinvest this money back into the art program and use it to fund other projects at BES! We’re so proud of this young lady and wish her the best in her ongoing, artistic endeavors!
Please join the Patriot in offering Hadley our sincerest congratulations and make sure to stop by The Island and see her beautiful creation the next time you visit the Smokies!
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