Prevent Blindness America has announced the state winners for the Most Beautiful Eyes contest. A national winner will be selected from this beautiful group. The winner of the contest will receive a a $25,000 college scholarship and for one year, will be the face of the “Star Pupils” program, the national children’s eye health and safety program from Prevent Blindness America. The second prize winner will receive a $4,000 scholarship, with a $2,000 scholarship for the third place winner.
This Sunday The Charleston Post and Courier featured the contest winner for South Carolina.
People always told Michelle Helferich of Summerville that her daughter has pretty eyes.
Now it’s official.
Kayla Helferich, 8, a student at Windsor Hill Art Infused Elementary, was named the state winner for Prevent Blindness America’s “Most Beautiful Eyes” contest by receiving the most votes online in September.
The contest, which was open to children up to age 17, was to bring attention to eye health, according to Prevent Blindness.
“Kayla has Down syndrome, and one of the characteristics of Down syndrome is Brushfield spots in her eyes,” said Michelle Helferich. “They look like white sparkles, and people always comment about how pretty her eyes are.”
Helferich, who is also the mother of Lucas, 3, and the wife of Joe, who is in the Air Force, writes a blog called Big Blueberry Eyes.
“Somebody from Prevent Blindness contacted me and asked if I wanted to put the info about the contest on my blog,” she said. “It sounded like a good cause, so I said yes. Then I thought, ‘I’m going to send my daughter’s picture in, too.’ It seems like there are always negative perceptions about Down syndrome, and I thought this was something that’s in a positive light.”
Click here to read more.
Kayla’s mom Michelle Helferich shares her insights on raising a child with down syndrome on her blog Big Blueberry Eyes.
Congratulations to Kayla and the other state winners!