Written by Allison Kroeker / Heartland Journalism
On November 29, Tucker Robinson was named as an ‘If Kids Could Cure’ contest winner of 2017 for grades 3-5.
He was honored with an award ceremony on January 17. Lt. Governor Mike Foley attended the ceremony and shared kind and encouraging words about our school, student body, and Tucker.
The contest was put on by Pfizer, one of the world’s premier biopharmaceutical companies. Tucker was one of 3 winners among over 8,000 entries nationwide.
Through the contest, Tucker was awarded a backpack filled with $200 worth of science supplies. The 5th-grade classroom was awarded Scholastic books. The school was awarded a $15,000 grant for the science program.
Tucker, the son of Sadie Coffey and Nick Benson, had written an inspirational paper on how kids with juvenile diabetes can learn how to take care of themselves.
Some of Tucker’s ideas involved utilizing a stuffed animal that can identify blood sugar levels in the patient as well as a cartoon show featuring a diabetic character.
Tucker came up with his ideas because of his uncle who has diabetes. His uncle, who was a guest speaker at the award ceremony, stated that if Tucker’s ideas had been around when he was a child, his experience with the disease would have been more pleasant.
