5th grader wins Brewers' Jackie Robinson Design Contest -- a year after her brother did same!

MILWAUKEE – For the Puissants of New Franken, Wis., art runs in the family.

Luxemburg-Casco Intermediate School fifth grader Callie Puissant threw a ceremonial first pitch prior to Wednesday’s Brewers-Blue Jays game at American Family Field after winning the Brewers’ Jackie Robinson Design Contest – just like her older brother, Colton, did last year.

The assignment was this: Design a jersey, sneaker, or poster that represents social justice, equality, and positive change in your school or community. Puissant’s winning design is a multi-colored sneaker.

“I was thinking about all peoples’ skin colors and how Jackie Robinson brought everyone together," Callie said.

Young artists between the ages of 8-17 from around the state of Wisconsin were asked to showcase their creativity while honoring Robinson, the trailblazing Brooklyn Dodgers star who broke baseball’s color barrier 79 years ago. Major League Baseball marked the anniversary on Wednesday with its annual Jackie Robinson Day, and Callie Puissant helped get the day started in Milwaukee.

She was joined on the field during pregame festivities by runner-up Mahzala Shahzad from Milwaukee, a fourth-grader at Southwood Glen Elementary School, and third-place finisher Lucy Manning from Milwaukee, a seventh grader at Whitefish Bay Middle School.

“He stood up for his own rights and he believed that all people should have rights,” said Mahzala. “He made sure people believed in themselves.”

That’s one of the many of Robinson’s qualities that make him a hero of Brewers manager Pat Murphy, who has a photograph of Robinson on the wall of his office at American Family Field. It bears one of Robinson’s most well-known quotations: “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.”

“I don’t mean to get too heavy, but what else is this about?” Murphy said. “What impact can you have on others?”

The Brewers’ annual contest is based on Sharon Robinson’s book, "Jackie Robinson’s Values to Live By: Becoming Your Best Self," and encourages kids to illustrate principles such as citizenship, courage, determination and teamwork.

It was the perfect group project for the Puissants.

“I was looking on the Brewers website for some of the kids' activities and happened to come across the art contest,” said Amber Puissant, Callie and Colton’s mom. “My mom has a career in art, so we just love doing art as a family. We like to doodle, we like to draw.

“When I saw this contest, I said, ‘Somebody should do this!’ And it became a family event.”

Look out next year, young artists. Colton and Callie have a younger brother, Caleb.