19 students from Central Kitsap High School have made and donated artwork that will be part of a year-long display at St. Michael Medical Center in Silverdale. An opening party for the display took place Jan. 26.
All art pieces are from the Connections Project, which CKHS senior Madeline Johnson said she and her art teachers, Katie Betzina and Morgan Young, had planned. “The art teachers gave us a choice to choose a theme and so we thought ‘connections’ would be good for each student to interpret in their own way,” said Johnson. In May 2025, Johnson placed second in the America250 National Art Competition.
The project first started as an idea from Johnson for her art club, but it quickly expanded to an assignment in a class in order to have a larger group of students involved. The art students had been working on these pieces for the last two months before they were displayed at St. Michael Medical Center.
This year is the second year St. Michael has displayed students’ art. Before CKHS art students had their work displayed, the hallway held paintings from Bremerton High School art students. St. Michael staff shared that they plan to rotate artwork each year from nearby schools in the future.
Human resources manager and co-chair of the Employee Engagement Committee, Samantha Eldridge, helped organize the art display along with HR assistant Martha Reeves and CKHS teachers Betzina and Young. “As we were hanging the pieces, we had multiple people walking by, talking about how great it was. And it’s great that we will probably be hearing that for the next year,” said Eldridge.
The opening party began with thanks and appreciation given from St. Michael staff, before students were instructed to stand in front of their artwork for photos as guests walked along the display. “I am thoroughly impressed by all of the work you all did. These are beautiful. I also have a degree in Fine Arts, so I am not just a nurse, but I am an artist at heart,” interim vice president of Operations at St. Michael, Allie McLaughlin, shared with the students. “We are really thankful that you all spent your time and efforts to come help decorate our hallways. Patients love seeing your artwork, especially art that is coming from our own community. It brings a lot of joy to the patients and the staff.”
CKHS students who have artwork at the display are as listed: Amy Ngo (Sophomore), Isabella Sanchez (Freshman), Dani Gemmer (Junior), Hosea Melendez (Senior), Jeremiah T. (Freshman), Nani R. (Junior), Madeline Johnson (Senior), Natalie Acosta (Senior), May-Lin Zhang (Senior), Tuesday Norris (Senior), Xitlali Rangel (Freshman), Erika Lundberg (Junior), Vinvent McLean (Junior), Cora Nielsen (Senior), Lucas Vitarbo (Junior), Elsa Merry (Sophomore), Lillian Rappin (Freshman), Finn Hlavaty (Senior), and Maddie Simpson (Sophomore).
