NEW BREMEN – New Bremen’s Maria Kramer finished third in the Imagine Engineering Coloring Contest, a statewide competition that included more than 6,600 second graders from throughout Ohio.
“I felt really happy and really proud of myself,” Maria, the daughter of Diana and Alan Kramer, said.
Scott Little and Ron Meyer from the Allen County Engineer’s Office in Lima visited New Bremen this past winter to talk to the second-grade students about engineering. They told the students about types of engineers including civil, mechanical and electrical. They also discussed the importance of learning science and math and the need for teamwork in their jobs.
Maria’s artwork was inspired by the idea of teamwork.
“I thought it was really cool so I just wanted to do the contest for fun,” she said. “I knew all engineers had to work together to make the world a better place with using teamwork.”
Because Maria was selected as a statewide winner, Lily Hibner was named the school level winner for New Bremen. Her drawing was of the new elementary school being built by New Bremen High School.
“There were a lot of really, really good ones,” Diana Kramer, a second-grade teacher at New Bremen, said. “It speaks volumes to the type of students that go to New Bremen. They took the time. You could tell that they researched some things. It was interesting and neat to see all their different personalities come through in a drawing and coloring contest.”
The Allen County Engineer’s Office works with more than 600 students from nine schools as part of the Imagine Engineering Coloring Contest. From those students they selected three to be sent to the state competition in Columbus, where Maria’s was selected as one of the best in Ohio.
“It was great,” Meyer said of seeing the students’ work. “We always enjoy this. It’s always amazing some of the quality of colorings we get.”
New Bremen, in particular, has excelled in the competition, which was established in 1999 to inspire students to become interested in engineering.
“This contest has been going on for quite a few years, and New Bremen’s had quite a string of success in this coloring contest at the state level,” Little said. “And we know that New Bremen’s had some state champions, too.”
