RICHMOND, Va. — For its third year, the Virginia Lottery is encouraging all K-12 students attending Virginia public schools to create artwork that could appear on thank-you notes that will be distributed to thousands of teachers during National Teacher Appreciation Week.
The contest starts on January 2, 2020, and ends on January 31, 2020. Winners will be selected from three levels: elementary school, middle school, and high school.
The winners will each receive $2,000 for their school’s art department and a $150 gift card, in addition to having their original artwork featured on thousands of 2020 thank-you notes distributed across the Commonwealth.
“We have been blown away by the talent of some of Virginia’s youngest artists over the last two years, and we can’t wait to bring the program back for another year,” said Virginia Lottery Executive Director Kevin Hall. “It’s our mission to benefit Virginia’s K-12 public schools, and these special, personalized thank-you notes are another way to celebrate our remarkable state educators.”
Thank a Teacher is a statewide campaign organized by the Virginia Lottery in partnership with the Virginia PTA and The Supply Room. Each year, these partners encourage students, parents and the general public to send thank-you notes to Virginia’s public school teachers during National Teacher Appreciation Week which is from March 4 through 8.
To date, Virginians distributed more than 100,000 thank-you notes, with some teachers also winning prizes like Virginia-themed vacations.
Entries for the art contest will be judged by a blue-ribbon panel of various members of the arts community in Virginia, and winning designs will be revealed in March. For more information about the Thank a Teacher Art Contest eligibility requirements, design criteria, prize structure, and submission guidelines, visit www.ThankaTeacherVA.com.
