Sean Swan-Leuze, along with his co-worker and friend, Jomar Gomez, who has a connection with the Jamestown-based shoe and apparel store Uptwn Kix, 117 West 4th St., came up with a program to help the students custom design their shoes. For Gomez, the opportunity to give back is his primary motivation.

“As I always say, my goal is to pour into these kids as much as I can. I’ve been blessed with an overflow of love, patience, and kindness, and I just want to share it all,” Gomez said. “I want all my students to succeed every day.”

Swan-Leuze said, “We started the competition announcing this event to all students we thought may be interested.

Students first colored a picture of a pair of Airforce Ones and hand them in. Judges looked at them, compared them to the criteria, and voted for the top five. From those five, the school voted on them, and the top three designers were awarded the opportunity to paint their shoes donated to our students by Christopher Saldarriaga, CEO of Uptwn Kix.

Sean Swan-Leuze, a health and physical education teacher and administrative intern at Randolph Academy, delivered pizza to the finalists of a Friday shoe-designing contest. Graphic Artist Roseangeli Torres assisted the two students with painting their individual shoe designs on donated AirForce One shoes. P-J photo by Christopher Blakelee

“The winners of the shoe design competition are Karly H., Hailey R., and Yesenia E.,” said Swan-Leuze. The students’ last names are withheld at the school’s request.

Swan-Leuze reported that student Hailey R. could not attend the final event because she had been discharged and returned to her home-based school, “which is a good thing.”

Student Karly H. said, “I like designing the layout of this shoe. I had to re-draw it three or four times until I found a layout I liked.”

Yesenia echoed some of Karly H.’s statements.

“Same here. I drew the layout, then re-drew it repeatedly,” said Yesenia.

From left Randolph Academy Student Karly H, Jomar Gomez, school staff, Yesenia E, a 10th-grade academy student, and Graphic Artist Roseangeli Torres pose with the shoe design artwork the students did to earn a pair of AirForce Ones Friday. P-J photo by Christopher Blakelee

Roseangeli Torres, a graphic designer with Uptwn Kix, said, “I like being able to share and mentor these students. Using art to lighten their day (students) and provide a glimmer of hope is rewarding enough.

The Randolph Academy Union Free School District operates two campuses, including residential and day institutions, in Randolph and Hamburg. The schools can be considered an alternative educational “special act” school district that includes specific institutions that provide services to children. The Randolph location includes day and boarding students, while the Hamburg location only has day students.

“Sometimes our students get a bad rap,” Swan-Leuze said. “The perception of Randolph Academy needs to be more positive. This is another reason I wanted the event showcased in our community. We have a lot of talented students doing some amazing things, and our community needs to know about it.”