Student draws for the cure

A Medicine Bow student's art will help save lives.

Bethany Howard, a third grade student at Medicine Bow Elementary, won the Kids for the Cure art contest. As first prize, her drawing will be featured on the shirts of children at the Wyoming Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.

When she heard she won, Bethany said she was surprised. But it was hardly a surprise when looking at the votes. Using Facebook "likes" to determine the winner, Bethany's drawing won by a landslide, receiving the most support from voters with 81 likes. The second place drawing only had 39 likes.

Bethany said her fantastic drawing ability comes from her family tree.

"Everyone in my family likes to draw," Bethany said.

The rules required Wyoming children 12 years old and under to only use four colors, include the pink ribbon associated with breast cancer awareness to draw a picture that representing Wyoming Race for the Cure's theme "Racing for Wyoming."

"I thought about putting in for the contest and when I was drawing it, I decided to make the face between the ribbons," Bethany said about her art process.

Bethany used markers for her drawing because she liked what colors she could get from it.

"I knew what colors I could get [with markers]," Bethany said. "It just looked better."

Using a horse in her design, Bethany said she got the inspiration for her drawing from her ranch in the Sherley Basin. Though she does not have any horses, she said her ranch has many other animals like sheep and cattle.

Bethany's teacher, Heather Booth, said when she heard about the contest, Bethany instantly came into mind.

"She is a fantastic artist," Booth said. "When you give her a book on how to draw something, she just come out with it looking nice."

Bethany and her family will be attending the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on Aug. 9 in Cheyenne with free overnight accommodations.She will lead the pledge of allegiance before the race.