Staff Report

The Suffolk News-Herald will sponsor the annual poster contest in conjunction with the Hurrah Players’ performance of &uot;Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.&uot;

The poster contest is open to all elementary school students in Suffolk and is being coordinated by Kilby Shores Elementary School art teacher Angie Salerno. The artists who design the top five posters will each receive four free tickets courtesy of the Suffolk News-Herald.

At the conclusion of the

contest, all of the entries will be distributed to businesses across Suffolk to promote the performance which will be held at 3 p.m. April 10 at King’s Fork Middle School.

The Hurrah Players is a well-known regional theater troupe of youth actors with a reputation of bringing top-notch, family-friendly productions to the area.

The Suffolk Education Foundation decided several years ago to invite The Hurrah Players to Suffolk as a way to offer local families discounted rates to their performances without having to drive out of town.

In addition to the Suffolk News-Herald, this year’s major sponsors include Sara Lee Coffee & Tea, Duke Automotive and BB&T.

Besides bringing the Hurrah Players to town, the Foundation has also awarded $128,000 in scholarships to college-bound graduates from Lakeland High School and Nansemond River High School.

This spring, it expects to award up to $13,000 in scholarships to the Class of 2005, including students at the new King’s Fork High School.

Foundation dollars are also used to help high school students pay for dual college credit classes.

In addition to student scholarships, the Suffolk Education Foundation has provided more than $81,000 in teacher mini-grants.

This money has been used for such things as a computer lab for middle school art classes, an outdoor reading garden, and disability awareness programs.

The Foundation also co-sponsors with Suffolk Public Schools both the Teacher of the Year program and its quarterly Star Award employee recognition project.

Tickets are on sale now at $10 each. For groups of 20 or more, tickets are $8 each.

Tickets are available by calling 539-1265.