![\"IMG_6112\"](\"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/IMG_6112.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe joy of a military homecoming is the subject of Madison\u2019s illustration.<\/p>\n
\u201cI created this piece because when my dad came [home] from Afghanistan that was the greatest day of my life!\u201d wrote the New Castle Elementary third-grader. \u201cAt first I didn\u2019t recognize him. I gave him a big hug. I didn\u2019t know he was coming. It was the best surprise ever!\u201d<\/p>\n
The two illustrations are among more than 700 pieces of student artwork in The Art of Being a Military Child exhibit at Lynnhaven Mall this month. It is the fifth year Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) has hosted the exhibit during the Month of the Military Child. It is the culmination of an annual art contest open to all VBCPS students that the divison hosts in partnership with military school liaison officers at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story and Naval Air Station Oceana-Dam Neck.<\/p>\n Student contest winners were recognized during the exhibit\u2019s opening reception April 5 at Lynnhaven Mall which featured various guest speakers as well as entertainment by the U.S. Fleet Forces Band.<\/p>\n \u201cThis year the exhibit features art from various elementary schools, all of our middle schools and two high schools. This is our largest contribution that we\u2019ve had,\u201d said Natalie Meiggs, VBCPS coordinator of military connected and academic support programs.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the biggest themes we\u2019ve seen is the reintegration, the coming home, and the children\u2019s excitement of a parent coming home,\u201d observed Meiggs. \u201cAnd it\u2019s not just with our military dependent children but also with our civilian children. All of the children throughout the district, we\u2019re starting to see that they are impacted by that reintegration.\u201d<\/p>\n Amanda Yoder, one of the division\u2019s two military-connected school counselors, agreed that all<\/em> students experience feelings related to the military experience. They see their classmates experience deployments and celebrate homecomings, and they are impacted by military moves and relocations of their friends.<\/p>\n \u201cI think what\u2019s really powerful in this exhibit is that it\u2019s sharing the way military children experience their parents\u2019 deployment but also is open to all of our VBCPS students, so sometimes it\u2019s someone who has watched their friend go through these emotions,\u201d said Yoder. \u201cSometimes the overlooked or left behind students are the ones who are not military-connected but they are still they are still impacted by the military in a division as big as ours.\u201d<\/p>\n The multiple military-related relocations for\u00a0one of Haylee\u2019s friends is what inspired the Landstown High School student\u2019s piece.<\/p>\n \u201c[S]he tells me about her stories of moving from Japan to Hawaii to Virginia,\u201d wrote Haylee. \u201cOf course I can only imagine how it was to move so much, especially without a parent around all the time. I put all those emotions she relayed to me into my piece. It\u2019s supposed to show understanding and support for all my military friends.\u201d<\/p>\n Understanding and support as well as honor and sacrifice are themes art exhibit visitors will see.<\/p>\n An illustration by Grace, a Lynnhaven Middle School sixth-grader, pays tribute to her father. She hopes it will encourage people to remember those servicemembers who do not come home.<\/p>\n \u201cI created this piece because I think it\u2019s important to honor the men and women who died fighting for our country. This means a lot to me because I lost my dad in the military and he lost some friends, too,\u201d she wrote in her artist\u2019s statement. \u201cMy inspiration came from my aunt\u2019s wedding. She had a table with pictures of people who have passed. A sign said, \u2018We know you would have come and stayed if heaven weren\u2019t so far away.\u2019 As you can see, my image means a lot to me. I hope it will make some remember.\u201d<\/p>\n The public is invited to view The Art of the Military Child exhibit located near center court of Lynnhaven Mall through the end of April. More photos from the exhibit and the opening reception are posted on the VBSchools Facebook page<\/a>.<\/p>\n Congratulations to the following 16 student\u00a0award winners in The Art of the Military Child contest:<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n