For 12 years, Amy Powroznik’s classes at Lakeside Elementary School have used art as a way to provide support to those who need it most. This year, a record number of schools and students from across HCPS and the Richmond region collaborated to make art, raise money and lift spirits for the children and families at Noah’s Children, the pediatric palliative care program at Bon Secours.
“To me, it feels good, and I’m glad I did it because I know those kids will enjoy it,” said Autumn Phillips, a fifth grader at Lakeside who worked on the Kids Helping Kids Art Project for Noah's Children. “It’s really amazing, and I think we’re doing a good thing for these kids.”
The final result of this great effort was a butterfly-themed glass window — a mixed-media project with contributions from students at Lakeside, The Georgetown School (Hanover), Liberty Middle School (Hanover) and St. Catherine’s (Richmond) — that will be auctioned off at the Children’s Hope Gala on March 22 at Main Street Station in downtown Richmond.
In addition, Varina High School, John Rolfe Middle School and Short Pump Middle School were among 20-plus schools to create hundreds of handcrafted butterflies made from materials such as paper, fabric, ceramic, wire and more. These will be used as decorations at local Bon Secours hospitals.
“I loved it. The more the merrier,” Powroznik said. “What I love is that it’s not cookie cutter. When you walk around and look at all these, everything is different, and to me, that’s what art is. … You see everyone’s creativity, and you see how all the art teachers think by the medium that they chose for their students. You get ideas for yourself, and we all inspire each other.”
Powroznik assigned Autumn and a few other students from Lakeside's third, fourth and fifth grade classes to plan out and draw what they would want to include on their portion of the window, which was donated Caravati’s Architectural Salvage in Ashland. Autumn designed a monarch butterfly and eventually painted it onto the top right pane.
She was excited when she got a sneak preview of the window and the handcrafted butterflies earlier this week at Lakeside.
“It was amazing. I was like, really shocked when I saw it,” she said. “I thought this was just going to be fun to help out Noah’s Children, but then once I saw all of this and all the schools that did it, I was like, OK, wow, this is was way bigger than I thought it was. I knew it was pretty big, but I didn’t know it was this big."
Last year’s Richmond-themed train set sold for $2,000, and a student-made dollhouse in 2023 sold for $3,500. All the proceeds from the auction will go directly toward supporting Noah’s Children and other pediatric programs at Bon Secours. In recent years, funds have paid for music therapy, technology for patients, a party for kids with cleft palate surgery and a new sensory room for teens going through mental health crises.
“[My students] know this goes much deeper than just their drawing, and I know they’re excited to help,” Powroznik said. “And it’s Youth Art Month. What better way to celebrate Youth Art Month than kids helping kids?”
For more information about Noah’s Children and the Kids Helping Kids Program, visit https://www.noahschildren.org/, and to learn more about the Children's Hope Gala, visit givebsmh.org.
