2009 - 2010 Theme: Beauty is...
Enjoy the extraordinary National PTA Reflections Gallery!
Creating art is a valuable learning process. Artistic exploration and expression enhance a child's intellectual, social, and technical skills. When children express themselves through words, pictures, music, photography, and other art forms, they grow intellectually. They learn to analyze their thoughts, feelings, and ideas; learn to look at things, people, and experiences in a fresh and exciting way; and become more interested in the ideas and works of others.
National PTA believes all children deserve a quality arts education and encourages students to pursue artistic expression through participation in its annual arts Reflections Program. The Reflections Program is designed to enhance rather than replace a quality arts education. It provides an opportunity for students to express themselves and receive positive recognition for their artistic efforts. Parents, teachers, and community members all play a critical role in fostering creative expression by children.
Click on a link to go to an area of this document:
Artistic Categories
Participation
Children with Disabilities
Student Entry Form
Rules By Category
Parent/Student Checklist
Judging
Advancing Students
Frequently Asked Questions
Information for Local PTA/PTSA Reflections Chairpersons
Artistic Categories
The National PTA Reflections Program offers Preschool - Grade 12 students the opportunity to create works of art for fun and recognition, in six areas:
- Dance/choreography
- Literature
- Film/video
- Musical composition
- Photography
- Visual arts
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Participation
Students participate in the Reflections Program by submitting entries in early fall to a local PTA or PTSA. A child may submit more than one entry per category and may enter in multiple categories. Check with your PTA President or Reflections Chair for entry form, category rules and submission deadline. All District 204 students are eligible to participate.
Congratulations to all those who participate! We look forward to your continued participation in future years! If you missed the opportunity to participate this year, we encourage you to enter next fall.
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Children with Disabilities
PTA believes that each child with a disability should be provided a free and appropriate public education. Therefore, the Reflections Program does not have a special division for students with disabilities. PTA believes it is the right of parents to place their child in the Reflections Program grade division that best reflects their child's developmental age.
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Student Entry Form
Entries must be submitted to each child's local unit PTA or PTSA. Each Reflections Chairperson will add pertinent local unit information to this Student Entry Form prior to distribution at school. If at all possible, please use the form customized for your PTA or PTSA.
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Rules By Category
Each category has a specific set of rules. Click on the booklet to view the rules by category.
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Parent/Student Checklist
Click here to print a list of steps to submit an entry.
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Judging
The focus of Reflections is to celebrate creativity in the arts. Every student participating in the program will be honored and recognized in some way at his/her local school. However, some pieces are selected to advance from the school and may progress through levels of PTA until National PTA honorees are determined. Works are judged on artistic merit, creativity and interpretation of the theme. A well-developed concept is more important than the technique. The volunteer judges will have relevant experience in their arts area. Entries are "blinded" to judges.
In District 204, entries are first submitted to the school in early fall. A specific number of works then progress to the Indian Prairie Parents Council (IPPC) level which is made up of all the schools in District 204. IPPC advances the top entries to PTA District level, comprised of schools in the western half of DuPage County. In late winter, the PTA District forwards entries to Illinois PTA. In the spring, Illinois PTA selects one entry from each category in each division to represent Illinois at the National level. Illinois PTA awards medals to their advancers and recognizes entries that merit honorable mention. All entries that advance to Illinois PTA are kept for one year as part of a traveling Illinois Reflections exhibition. By June, National PTA announces their Awards of Excellence in each art area. In addition, up to five Awards of Merit may be chosen in each arts area and grade division. Gifts awarded by National PTA vary from year to year. Certain recipients and their chaperones are invited to attend the National PTA Convention in June to receive recognition.
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Advancing Students
Contact the Reflections Chairperson in your local PTA or PTSA unit for further information about the status of your submission.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who is eligible to participate in Reflections? Any student attending a District 204 pre-school, elementary, middle or high school is eligible to participate in Reflections. Entries must be submitted to each child's local unit PTA or PTSA.
What are the grade divisions? Primary (preschool - grade 2), Intermediate (grades 3-5), Middle (grades 6-8), Senior (grades 9-12). Students' work is grouped together by grade division for judging purposes.
What are the judging levels? Local (school), Council (IPPC), District (Dupage Country), State (Illinois) and National. While entries are evaluated and recognition provided at each level of progression, the Reflections program emphasizes participation and celebrates each child's creativity.
Can a student submit more than one entry? Yes. Multiple entries in multiple categories are permitted. Students should keep quality in mind and enter only what they feel are their best ideas interpreting the Reflections theme.
May developmentally challenged students participate? Yes. PTA believes that each child with a disability should be provided a free and appropriate public education. Therefore, the Reflections program does not have special division for students with disabilities, so for proper recognition, artwork should be entered in the grade division that best reflects the child's developmental age. The student should submit his work to his home school, but mark the grade grouping appropriate to his developmental age. For example, a 13 year old in 7th grade with the cognitive ability of a 4th grader would list his correct grade and age on the entry form, but check the Intermediate (grades 3-5) division. The entry would be turned into his middle school. The ideas and execution of the art piece should be with as little parental assistance as possible.
May copy-righted material be used? The only copyrighted material allowed is any music used in a film/video or dance choreography submission. The music must be credited properly on the entry form. Copyrighted material must not be used in a visual collage or photo manipulation or excerpted for a literature entry.
May a student use "unacceptable" language in an entry? The Reflections program makes no restriction on content or subject. Students who are submitting entries created in a school setting should be mindful of school standards for writing. Judges will be reminded that entries are to be reviewed for creativity, artistic merit and interpretation of theme.
Can a friend or a parent help? Only one student may be responsible for the creativity and execution of a visual art, photography or literature entry. A student can have someone else perform his original musical composition or dance choreography work. A student can direct other friends or family members in a film/video entry. Student artists need to be responsible for their own work. They need to make their own decisions about what to make and what to enter. This process is how students learn about art and about themselves. Students should do their best, but crooked lines, misspelled words or an incorrect note do not disqualify anyone.
Can a piece created for a school assignment be submitted? An entry must be created in the year submitted. It may fulfill a class or extra credit assignment. The work entered must be the student's independent creation and not a group project.
For a literature piece, can someone other than the student type or write up the entry? Students who are physically challenged or in pre-school, kindergarten or 1st grade may dictate to another person who may type or write down their original work. The transcriber must make every effort to reflect the original voice of the student. If a younger student writes a piece with made-up spelling or one that is difficult to read, the entry may be typed by another person as long as the original work is attached.
What if an entry is written in language or than English? Students for whom English is not their first language may submit entries in their own languages accompanied by a translation. The translator must make every effort to reflect the original voice of the student.
May students use notation software for creating musical composition scores? A student may use notation software. Imported MIDI files or files from other sources are not acceptable. Primary and Intermediate grade divisions do not require notation and iconic or "made-up" notation is allowed if notation is submitted. Middle and Senior divisions require either traditional tablature or electronic notation.
May students submit computer-manipulated photos? Yes, images may be manipulated conventionally or digitally. However, no added graphics (including lettering) are allowed over the images submitted in the photography category. Those works may be submitted as visual arts pieces.
May students submit computer-generated visual artworks? Yes. However, the presentation must be completely original and the student must do all the work. No Powerpoint generated/formatted work is accepted.
Does a photography or visual art entry need to be matted? No. Matting or mounting is not required. However, matting can enhance the presentation of the art and keep the art from being damaged in transit. Matting or mounting the entry is recommended. Mounting can be as simple as attaching the work to a slightly larger piece of poster board. Entries cannot be framed or thicker than 3/8".
Does the choreographer of a dance choreography entry have to be one of the performers? No. Up to three dancers may perform and the choreographer need not be one of the dancers. The choreography must be the work of only one student.
Does the student submitting a film/video production entry need to appear in the video? The student must be the director, writer and cameraperson. The only way the student can appear in his work is to have the camera on a tri-pod (operated by remote control or some by other independent method) or to turn the camera on himself while filming. No Powerpoint presentations are permitted.
Does the quality of the recording affect judging in the music composition, film-video production and dance choreography entries? Maybe. A well-developed concept is more important than technique. However, a recording that has poor sound or visual quality will be a distraction in the judging process.
What recording formats are allowed for music composition, film/video and dance choreography? It depends on the category. Refer to the specific rules.
Should the work be titled and should the "Optional Statement" be filled out? Titles and statements are truly optional. However, judges need to rate interpretation of the theme and often the title and/or statement are helpful in telling the creative story or inspiration behind a student's work. The student's thought process is more important the higher a work progresses.
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Information for Local Unit PTA/PTSA Reflections Chairpersons
These downloadable files will help get the Reflections Program underway at your school.
Use this guide to ensure a successful program.
Customize this form to your local unit before distribution.
Use this reference to find your number from National PTA.
Provide this form to help judges evaluate consistently.
Follow these steps to submit your advancing local unit entries to IPPC.
Complete this log before submission to IPPC.
Refer to this booklet for more detailed program information from Illinois PTA. Local Unit Participation Form A is included in this booklet.
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