Virginia Lottery offers Thank a Teacher Art Contest for K-12 public school students

Pablo Picasso once said: “Every child is an artist.” Building on that sentiment, the Virginia Lottery launches its eighth annual Thank a Teacher Art Contest.

In partnership with The Supply Room, all K-12 students enrolled in Virginia’s public schools are encouraged to create artwork and enter it into the contest for the chance to have their artwork appear on thank-you notes that will be distributed to thousands of teachers during National Teacher Appreciation Week in May 2025.

Students are encouraged to create art that expresses their gratitude for Virginia’s public school teachers. The Lottery will accept submissions online through Monday, February 3, 2025. One winner will be selected at each level: elementary, middle and high school. The school that each winner attends will receive $2,000 from The Supply Room. The winning artists will receive a $200 Visa® gift card in addition to having the winning original artwork featured on thank-you notes distributed across Virginia.

Last year, the Lottery surprised the three student winners: Sadie Clark, a 5th grader at Mountain View Elementary School in Roanoke; Maria Rose Sajan, a 7th grader at Grafton Middle School in York County; and Helen Hou, a senior at Albemarle High School in Albemarle County. Their artwork was shared on more than 130,000 digital and printed thank-you notes as part of the 2024 Thank a Teacher campaign.

Following the announcement of the art contest winners, students, parents and the general public are encouraged to send thank-you notes to Virginia’s public school teachers during National Teacher Appreciation Week. To date, Virginians have sent more than 500,000 thank-you notes. Each note includes a unique web code that teachers can use to enter for a chance to win $2,500 in supplies from The Supply Room and $2,500 in cash from the Virginia Lottery and its partners IGT and NPi.

All Virginia Lottery profits go to K-12 education in Virginia. In fiscal year 2024, the Lottery raised more than $934 million for K-12 education, making up approximately 10 percent of Virginia’s total K-12 school budget. For a complete list of Lottery funds distributed to Virginia school districts, visit the Virginia Lottery’s Giving Back page.