For more than three decades, Steve VanDam has played a significant role in shaping students at Sebring High School in Highlands County, Florida. Through his leadership of the Art Club and National Junior Honor Society, VanDam has helped raise over $300,000 for local families in need via the annual Soup for the Arts fundraiser.
The event began in 2000 with just over $1,000 raised to help struggling families. Since then, it has expanded considerably. In recent years, Soup for the Arts has consistently generated about $25,000 each year. This year’s beneficiaries included the family of an elementary school child needing a liver transplant and a high school junior battling lung cancer.
Soup for the Arts is held on the third Thursday of February and brings together hundreds from the community to enjoy soup, bread, desserts, and purchase student-made soup bowls. At this year’s event alone, more than 1,700 servings of soup were prepared.
VanDam was inspired by his own childhood experiences after losing his mother to cancer at age nine. He recalled how his community supported his family during that time: “find something I could do as a way to give back…this is in memory of her and helps keep her memory alive.” He emphasized involving students directly so they could “learn the value of community.”
Kristy Harris has worked alongside VanDam for six years helping coordinate Soup for the Arts. She said one rewarding aspect is seeing students develop throughout their high school years: “they come in as freshmen and join art club and get sucked in and love it so much that they make it all the way to senior year. And we have several students who come back (after graduation) and become sponsors. Soup for the Arts becomes part of them, and they become part of us. They grow and we get to watch it, and it’s so awesome.”
Both teachers credit their students with making Soup for the Arts successful each year. Over eighty students volunteered this year alone—handling everything from collecting donations from local restaurants to decorating event spaces and choosing which families receive support. As Harris stated: “We’re just the orchestrators here; the kids are the ones who are out there doing the thing and making the event look awesome. We wouldn’t have an event if it weren’t for them.”
VanDam offered advice to educators interested in similar projects: “Having programs like this is a lot of work, but seeing what kids get out of it—you can’t even speak words to say. We’re here to help them be a better person and to see what the world is like in a positive way.”
Sebring High School’s Art Club continues its tradition not only by teaching art but also by helping students learn important life lessons about responsibility, kindness, and community involvement under VanDam’s and Harris’s guidance.
The Florida Education Association encourages others to share stories about impactful educators through its member spotlight nomination process.
