Boardman kid wins national creativity award

Kindergarten through fifth-graders from across the country submitted contest entries.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- Jeremy Large, 9, won a national creativity contest, but the award comes with strings -- at least one.
Jeremy, a third-grader at West Boulevard Elementary School, took the honors among third-graders from across the country who submitted entries in the "My String is A ..." contest.
"I drew an astronaut floating in space with a tether attached to a space shuttle," he said, gesturing to show how the string worked as a tether.
He chose Crayola as his medium.
When he finished, he thought it was pretty good.
Still, his idea and the creation it spawned didn't happen immediately.
"I was thinking and thinking and brainstorming, and it just came to me," the young artist said, a mixture of pride and modesty on his face.
He thought of another book he read about a bus that gets lost in the solar system, and that led to the idea.
"I just used my imagination," Jeremy said.
The basis
The contest was sponsored by Cleveland-based Bubblegum Books and the Center for SCREEN-TIME Awareness in Washington, D.C.
Bubblegum-published book, "The Things A String Can Be," provided the basis for the contest. It's about a boy who uses his imagination to put a string to use.
John Ferguson, the book's illustrator and an Austintown native, visited the school in February, talking about the value of imagination.
Brad Hauber of Bubblegum Books said there were hundreds of entries from children in kindergarten through fifth-grade across the country. Jeremy was the sole Mahoning Valley winner.
"It's pretty exciting," Jeremy said.
Strong entries
Sue Friedrich, third-grade language arts and social studies teacher at the school, said her pupils submitted many impressive entries.
"I just gave them a blank sheet of white paper and a white string, and they went with it," she said.
Jeremy learned about his latest success in class when Friedrich announced it to the applause of his classmates.
"I thought, 'Wow,'" he said.
Jeremy said the news of success excited his parents, Dani and Scott Large, too.
"We were having hot dogs for dinner when my cousins came over and they were talking and [Mom and Dad] kept blabbing and blabbing, 'It's nationwide. It's nationwide,'" he said.
Author is presenter
The author of "The Things A String Can Be," Julie Goulis, will give Jeremy his prizes today at Barnes & amp; Noble Booksellers in the Shops At Boardman Park.
They may include pencils, Frisbees or other treats, Jeremy said.
The award presentation kickstarts of the Center for SCREEN-TIME Awareness's TV Turnoff Week, which runs Monday through April 29.
Jeremy's family -- his parents, sister, Sarah, 17, grandma, an aunt and two cousins -- will be there when he gets his prizes.
"I thought I would never be famous," Jeremy said with a grin. "Now I am."