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| Mother, son team up to design a special ed program t-shirt |
They sold over 200 shirts in just a few weeks and raised over $ 1,000 for the special education program for Ashland - Greenwood Public Schools.
Traci and her husband, Blase, are pleased with the progress made in his second year of pre - school program in the school district by their son, Sullivan. Sullivan is autistic, having the syndrome of Marfan.
"Sullivan needed additional help, and we definitely got it there," Traci said.
Traci said Sullivan and the entire Lichtas family had been accepting the pre - school teachers and the school district and had gone out of their way.
"They treat us as a family, my husband as well as myself and our daughter," said Traci.
Sullivan's treatment received gave Traci the incentive to use her talents to benefit the district of the school.
"I really just wanted to find a way to return," she said.
Traci has a bachelor of graphic design degree in fine arts and has worked as a t-shirt designer for 12 years.
"I love t-shirt designing, and I love my job," she said.
So creating a Traci shirt was a piece of cake. And she also wanted Sullivan to play a role in the design.
His condition makes writing and drawing difficult for him, but Traci got Sullivan on the front of the shirt to draw his eyes in the smiley face.
"I was really excited to see him do something that could be recognized as a smiley face," she said.
Under the smiley face is "# bekind," representing a campaign to spread kindness through schools started by Ralston Public Schools Superintendent Mark Adler and his wife, Joni. Last month, the Adlers gave a presentation to students from Ashland - Greenwood Middle School / High School.
In a circle of school-related drawings, Traci embedded the words "Being Kind is Cool" on the back of the shirt.
"It's what I used to doodle at school at the margins of my notebook," she said.
Traci grew up in Aurora, so she knew little towns and small school systems. They moved back to their hometown in 2012 to raise their family after marrying Blase, who is a native of Ashland. They also have a daughter, Lennon, who is three years old.
The family is excited about the community's support since Traci started selling the t-shirts.
"How well it is," she said, "I'm amazed.
Traci set her original goal of selling 50 shirts, and that goal more than quadrupled. The sale was extended because sales were so good.
This week's first batch of shirts shipped, so they'll soon begin to show up around town, Traci said.
To design and sell the shirts online, she chose a company called Bonfire. They accept credit cards and Paypal and ship directly to Traci's attractive customer.
"That way I thought it would be more successful," she said.
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