Oak Hill Gears Up For 11th Annual Live And Silent Auction

Grab your cowboy boots and break out the barbecue sauce. Oak Hill Elementary is hosting its 11th annual live and silent auction, and this year’s theme is Boots and BBQ.
Each year, the auction brings in $20,000 to $30,000, which benefits the students.
“It really goes directly back to the students and instructional program to make the academics more meaningful and rigorous for the kids,” said Oak Hill Principal Deneen Houghton.
Last year, the roughly $23,000 from the auction was used to purchase 90 Chromebooks.
“Because we do have such a large school, it’s a good way for parents to meet other people,” said Amy Zurad, a member of the PTO and auction co-chair.
The live and silent auction is the only adult-only function of the year, said PTO member Alison Elliott.
“The students know all about it because, usually, every single one wants their parents to come to the event and purchase the artwork that their class worked on,” Elliott said. “They really are our best advocates to help recruit parents to come to the event.”
One of the biggest draws to the auction is the six grade-level projects that the kindergarten through fifth-grade classes make and auction off.
“They’re collaborative projects, and we do make sure every single student in that grade has contributed to the project,” Elliott said.
This year, the kindergarteners are creating the outline of Maryland on a piece of wood using string and nails. On a piece of wood from the barn at Kinder Farm Park, the second-graders are constructing an anchor made of yarn.
“It was really fun,” said second-grader Ella Zurad. “I had a fun time doing the string because I got to do it with my friends.”
The third-graders are working with one of their classmate’s siblings, who is an art student. For their project, each third-grader drew a self-portrait and wrote a description of why they drew what they did. The portraits will be combined into a book, and parents have to guess which one was made by their child.
The fourth-graders created a sun-shaped mirror with shims coming off it. Each fourth-grader painted and decorated a shim. After learning about upcycling, the fifth-graders used an old cable spool to create a table with a mosaic of turtles on top.
“We did a good amount, so everybody had a lot of fun on that,” said fifth-grader Isabella Elliott. “It was a really good project because everybody felt like they could do it and they were a part of it.”
In addition to the class art projects, a variety of items will be auctioned: 18 Disney park-hopper passes; trips to Cancun, Lake Gaston and Ocean City; teacher experiences and more.
“The community support for donations is incredible,” Elliott said. “We’re very lucky we have a community that is so supportive of the school.”
Tickets to the live and silent auction cost $50 per person. Each ticket includes drinks, dinner and entertainment, which includes a music by a DJ, dance, and money and prize wheels.
The live and silent auction takes place on Saturday, November 10, from 7:00pm-11:00pm. The event is held at Earleigh Heights Fire Hall. Tickets are available online at www.oakhillespto.membershiptoolkit.com.