Virginia Lottery Awards 3 'Thank A Teacher Art Contest' Winners

VIRGINIA — Unable to visit schools due to the coronavirus outbreak, Virginia Lottery officials had to figure out a new way to notify the student winners of its fifth annual Thank a Teacher Art Contest. The lottery worked with the parents of the three winners to surprise them with the news.

In previous years of the Thank a Teacher art contest, the Virginia Lottery visited schools to conduct a surprise presentation to the winning student artists during a school assembly. Since an in-person presentation wasn’t possible this year, the Lottery packaged up the printed versions of the notecards, a $150 Visa gift card, and several other prizes and sent them to the parents of the three winners. The parents helped record the reaction of the student artists when they learned of their selection.

The Lottery received several hundred entries this year and selected one each from elementary, middle (6th through 8th grade) and high school levels. The winners were:

• Sarah Keith, 4th grader at Potomac Elementary School in King George County.
• Alaina Carnahan, 6th grader at Oak Hill Elementary School in Fairfax County.
• Tiana Carter, senior at Chesterfield Career and Technical Center, Courthouse, in Chesterfield County.

The winning designs will be featured on thousands of notecards. Partnering with The Supply Room and Virginia PTA, the Virginia Lottery is inviting people to thank as many public school teachers as possible in conjunction with National Teacher Appreciation Week in May.

“Especially now, it is even more important to recognize the teachers and the students who are working so hard to continue their education under these very challenging circumstances,” Virginia Lottery Executive Director Kevin Hall said in a statement.

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The Thank a Teacher Art Contest winners were selected by a panel of representatives of Virginia’s arts community, including Christine Greenleaf, office administrator, Virginia Parent Teachers Association; Stephanie Fedor, executive director, Visual Arts Center of Richmond; and Amber Kuper, 2013 Virginia Lottery Super Teacher and aChesterfield County art teacher.

The winning students’ schools will also receive $1,000 from the Virginia Lottery and $1,000 in prizes from The Supply Room for their art departments.

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Between now and May 8, the public can visit thankateacherva.com to send a digital thank-you note to a teacher. Each digital note will randomly showcase one of the winning designs.

Teachers will receive the notes during Teacher Appreciation Week, which runs May 4-8. Teachers can use a unique code included in the digital note to enter a drawing for a chance to win a Virginia vacation courtesy of the Virginia Lottery and $5,000 in supplies for their school from The Supply Room.

The Lottery generates more than $1.7 million per day for Virginia’s K-12 public schools. Operating entirely on revenue from the sale of its products, the Virginia Lottery generated a record $650 million for Virginia’s public schools in fiscal year 2019.

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