Apii Nikao held a special morning assembly to honour its young artists last week, with the prize giving for the school’s World Autism Day colouring competition taking centre stage.

Excitement filled the school hall on Friday as students, staff and guests gathered to celebrate creativity and awareness through art.

The competition, designed to highlight World Autism Day in a fun and engaging way, drew colourful entries from across all age group from the school.

Generously sponsored by Vodafone Cook Islands, the competition prizes were awarded to students whose art work stood out for its originality and effort.

Judging was carried out by the Bank of the Cook Islands (BCI) admin team, who had the difficult task of selecting the winners from a pool of impressive submissions from over 100 students.

The prize winners were Lylah Piua (six and under age group), Mana Hunter-John (under nine years), and three winners from students over the age of 10 years: Tamangaro Pana, Raita Rani, and Maiata Herman.

Following the awards, the assembly officially commenced with the arrival of a visiting group from Taupo-nui-a-Tia College, further enriching the morning with cultural exchange and shared learning.

According to Kat Jensen, programmes manager for Autism Cook Islands, this year’s colouring competition entries were great, as there were more than 300 students from seven schools who participated in this competition.

The schools included were Apii Takitumu, Apii Avarua, Apii Te Uki Ou, St Joseph’s School, Nukutere College and Apii Vaitau from Aitutaki.