KITTS HILL — A Rock Hill student has received statewide recognition for a picture she drew as part of Child Abuse Prevention Month.

Ashley Walker, who will be a sixth-grader in the fall, is one of 12 youngsters to be selected in the state to be a part of the Ohio Children’s Trust Fund 2008 calendar.

Her picture entitled “Parent is also a verb,” will be featured on the calendar, which comes out later this year.

The OCTF, created by the Ohio Legislature in 1984, is aimed at preventing child abuse and neglect and also serves as a vehicle for distributing funding to prevention programs throughout Ohio.

“I was really happy,” Walker said of her picture’s selection. “I was shocked. … It was just awesome.”

The drawing was an assignment in Carolyn Barnett’s art class. Walker said she had a few different ideas for her picture, but decided to stick with the one she felt had the best chance of winning.

“I had talked to her about it, but she came up with the idea on her own. It really surprised me,” said Walker’s mother, Jody Newman of Kitts Hill. Her father is Jimmy Newman.

Walker’s picture was chosen as the county’s winner by the local Appalachian Family and Children First Council, an arm of the OCTF; then, she advanced on to the state competition where she went up against all of the other counties’ entries.

“I knew she did a good job, but I knew there would be some hard competition,” Newman said.