Lynchburg education leaders and arts partners highlight student opportunity at Foundation’s ‘Inspiring Achievement Through the Arts’ breakfast

Dawn Wise, executive director of the Lynchburg City Schools Education Foundation, opened the foundation’s 19th annual Breakfast with the Superintendent on March 13 in Lynchburg, saying the event — themed “inspiring achievement through the arts” — is the foundation’s largest fundraiser and supports programs that “go above and beyond what public revenues allow.”

The breakfast brought together school leaders, teachers and arts partners to describe how private donations and community partnerships expand visual and performing arts opportunities for Lynchburg City Schools students. Wise noted the Education Foundation, established in 1985 and marking its 40th anniversary this year, is “solely donor funded and rely[s] on the donations of private individuals, corporations and grant making foundations” to pay for programs and operating costs, including salaries for three employees and a paid intern.

That donor-supported work, presenters said, funds classroom grants, student trips and residencies that reach elementary through high school students. Taylor Wiskirchen, who described herself as a product of Lynchburg City Schools and now serves as technical theater teacher at Heritage High School, said experiential theater work convinced her to pursue arts education: “There’s no greater teacher than experience,” she told the audience, describing student trips to the Southeastern Theatre Conference, productions taken to competition, and an annual theater camp in which high school students mentor elementary students.

Kayla Jones, art teacher at Sandusky Middle School, described studio art as a learning environment that can engage students with learning differences and provide career-connected projects. “Art provides an opportunity to engage in a learning that feels natural and empowering,” Jones said, noting Sandusky students have created promotional material for local events, designed materials for the Lynchburg Humane Society and prepared pieces for community auctions and galleries.

Michelin Hall, chief programming officer at the Academy Center of the Arts, described the Academy’s school programs and artist-in-residence partnerships that bring professional artists into classrooms and that host student matinees and field trips. Resident artist Christina Davis outlined a recent four-week mural residency at William Marvin Bass Elementary School in which 22 students designed and installed a mural for their school library.

Speakers and organizers emphasized breadth of access. Wise asked attendees to review sponsor lists and thanked lead sponsors named during the program, including Berglund Toyota, Dominion7 Architects, Fleet Laboratories, Greater Lynchburg Community Foundation, Liberty University, University of Lynchburg, Lynchburg Beacon of Hope, MH Masonry, Warren Giles and US Pipe, and she noted 27 table sponsors supported the breakfast. Presenters repeatedly framed the foundation’s role as filling gaps between what federal, state and local tax dollars fund and the additional opportunities donors can provide.

The program closed with practical fundraising and community announcements: Wise promoted a March 14 “Pie Day” fundraiser (a partnership with Texas Inn and Heritage High School), noted the foundation was the presenting sponsor of the Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra Homecoming concert May 17 featuring alumnus Virgil Moore, and announced an ongoing pencil-drive and a school-supplies warehouse where teachers may pick up donated materials at no cost.

The event underscored both classroom-level examples and broader partnerships. Presenters cited student exhibitions at the Academy Center of the Arts and museum visits planned for elementary and middle school students, and they emphasized industry and nonprofit collaborations that bring artist mentors, gallery shows and real-world design projects into the curriculum. No formal votes or policy decisions were made at the breakfast; the gathering was fund- and awareness-raising and included requests for ongoing philanthropic and volunteer support.

Looking ahead, presenters encouraged continued donor support and attendance at upcoming school and community arts events, including a combined Heritage and E. C. Glass student trip to the American Shakespeare Center, student performances this spring at Heritage and E. C. Glass, and student matinees at the Academy Center of the Arts.