AMHERST — Not only did Wildwood School first grader Brooks Kuhn recently get to sign his artwork, depicting a rainbow school and rainbow bus, for Mindy Domb, his representative in the State House, but he got to see it displayed in her office.

Brooks was honored as one of 10 winners statewide in the 14th annual “My Ideal School” contest put on by the Massachusetts School Building Authority and State Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg, who chairs the school building board.

The contest promotes discussion about learning environments between first graders and their teachers. This year, the contest received over 2,500 drawings and 10 regional winners were selected and welcomed at the State House on June 7.

Each winner received a prize donated by M&T Bank.

In an ideal school, Brooks would add a bigger gym with trampolines, a larger library with more books, and nicer classrooms for teachers and students.

“I would add colorful buses like red, blue, yellow, orange, purple, violet. That is my ideal school,” Brooks wrote in his essay.

Brooks, though, noted that he loves his current school.

“I love the library, the gym and my classroom, and the teachers.”

His mother, Kate Kuhn, said his drawing depicts his rainbow school as well as a rainbow bus. He also drew trampolines and a soccer field.

Goldberg noted that this was the first time since 2019 that the winners could come to Boston. “I always look forward to the ‘My Ideal School’ contest to celebrate the creativity and imagination of these incredible children,” Goldberg said.

Domb had a copy of his drawing framed for her office and had Brooks sign it while he was visiting, and she even tweeted about his rainbow buses.

“It was so kind of her to meet us and show us around the State House when we were there for the ceremony,” Kuhn said.

Riddhima Walavalkar of Westborough was awarded the grand prize for her drawing, which will appear on the cover of the MSBA’s next annual report.

Climate investments

The loss of fossil fuel assets in retirement and long-term savings as green energy is promoted would be minimal for most people, according to research completed by a University of Massachusetts economist at the Political Economy Research Institute.

In high-income countries, most losses would be borne by the most affluent individuals for whom the loss makes up a small percentage of their total wealth. In contrast, the financial loss of lower-income individuals would be small in dollar terms and feasible for governments to compensate.

The study’s conclusions were published in the journal Joule and authored by Gregor Semieniuk, a research assistant professor at UMass, Lucas Chancel, associate professor of economics at Sciences Po in Paris, and four other co-authors.

“There’s this idea that it’s the general populace that should be opposed to climate policy that creates stranded assets because their pensions are at risk or their retirement savings or just their savings,” Semieniuk said in a statement. “It’s not untrue that some wealth is at risk, but in affluent countries it’s not a reason for government inaction because it would be so cheap for governments to compensate that.”

UMass police accreditation

An assessor from the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies Inc. will be in Amherst from July 9 to 11 to examine all aspects of the UMass Police Department’s policies and procedures, management, operations and support services.

Verification by the assessor that the department meets the commission’s standards is part of a voluntary process to gain re-accreditation, a sought-after recognition of public safety professional excellence.

The department was awarded its initial national accreditation in 2012.

Accreditation is for four years, during which the department must submit annual reports attesting to continued compliance with the standards under which it was initially accredited.

Knitting at the library 

Knitters and those who crochet are invited to participate in a six-week series of meetings in July and August, being held in the Amherst Room of Jones Library on Monday mornings from July 10 through Aug. 14, from 10 a.m. to noon.

People will be knitting or crocheting hats for babies and children who are in the state’s care. Patterns and yarn will be available. The group will be facilitated by Pam Ledoux.

Finished hats can be brought to the session each week, or dropped off at the reference desk at other times, from July 10 through Aug. 14.

For more information, contact Janet Ryan at 259-3223.

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