PUZZLES OF COLOR: FROM CURTIS ALUMNI TO NATIONAL SUCCESS

WRITTEN BY KEITH TAYLOR, WEBMASTER & SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR

During the COVID pandemic, William Jones, an Allen High School graduate, found himself at home with little to do. Wanting to stay active and earn a living, he needed an idea. That’s when the solution came to him—starting a jigsaw puzzle company. William and his sister, Ericka Chambers, also an Allen graduate, soon launched Puzzles of Color.

“We enjoyed puzzles since we were children,” Ericka said. “So, William was trying to think of a way to start a business and the answer was pretty easy.”

After hard work and promotion, Puzzles of Color products are now available in stores nationwide. With that success, William and Ericka, both former Curtis Middle School students, wanted to share their story. Curtis Special Services teacher Dekeisha Smith heard about the company and thought they would be great speakers for her Structured Learning Classroom.

“I had them speak with the class as a part of our career and transition talk for the week,” Dekeisha said. “During these talks I invite a professional from that career sector to come and share information about their job with the students. They share their duties, training requirements, and other general knowledge of their job.”

She continued, “I also invited them to come as a part of our goal to expose the children to a wider variety of career options than what those with special needs have traditionally been offered. To showcase a local small business owner, who is also a Curtis Alumni, was a fantastic opportunity for our students to see how far they can go in life.”

Dekeisha often uses puzzles to help her students with problem-solving and cognitive skills. Her students enjoy puzzles so much that they’ve started a puzzle-solving club at Curtis.

“The really exciting news is Puzzles of Color chose the artwork of (Curtis Student) Allyson Chean to create a new puzzle,” Dekeisha said.

Allyson’s parents, Gina Le and Mike Chean, were proud of their daughter’s work. “Allyson loves to paint and solve puzzles,” Gina said. “She loves puzzles so much, she started the club here at Curtis where she’s president.”

Mike added that Allyson usually paints landscapes, so when she created a mouse-themed painting, he knew it was special. “It’s a great experience for her to have her painting made into a puzzle,” he said. “The work that William and Ericka perform is amazing.”

William and Ericka brought a small puzzle press during their visit to show students how their products are made. Some students even got to turn their favorite art pieces into puzzles.

“I hope that hearing from the owners of Puzzles of Color encourages our students, as well as their families and any individual with a disability/diagnosis, to dream big for themselves,” Dekeisha said.

“We often hear, ‘I wish they could...’ or ‘They can’t do...’ in our line of work as Special Education educators. However, I want to help reshape that thinking from ‘Well maybe one day someone will change it’ to ‘I can be the one to change it,’ for both our students and their families,” she said.

Find out more about Puzzles of Color at PuzzlesOfColor.com.