PTA

National PTA Reflections - welcomes, free of charge, students from all grades and abilities to explore and be involved in the arts. Annually, thousands of students will reflect on a common theme and create original works of art in the categories of Dance Choreography, Film Production, Literature, Music Composition, Photography and Visual Arts.

The arts and the National PTA Reflections program support student success and serve as a valuable tool for building strong partnerships in your school community. Celebrate arts learning in your school community with Reflections.

Started in 1969 by (then) Colorado State PTA President, Mary Lou Anderson, Reflections has since become an international program as PTAs in Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and US military schools overseas have joined the 50 states to participate in this program.

Each year a Theme Search Contest is held where students can submit ideas for upcoming years. Entries are narrowed down to 5 per state and then the National PTA Reflections Committee makes a final selection.

PTA parents volunteer their time to work with Utah PTA and learn about the Reflections program and then host it in their schools. They inform students of the theme, distribute rules and entry forms, collect and judge art and recognize students for their efforts. This can be a time consuming job. Our Utah PTA presents have continually been outstanding and have done their very best to serve our students who want to participate in the arts.

Who Is Eligible to Participate in Reflections?

Reflections is a program offered to students who are enrolled in a PTA school. For Secondary Schools (Middle/Jr and High Schools) you need to be enrolled in a class that offers credits to participate. For Elementary schools you need to be enrolled for one class offered during school hours to participate.

The Reflections Theme for the 2022-23 school year is: "Show your voice!"

Hi Mountain View Families!

It’s time for our Reflections art contest! Reflections is sponsored by the PTA and invites students to reflect on a theme and create original works of art. Entries are judged at the school level.

• 2022-2023 theme: Show Your Voice!  (Entries need to be about this theme!)
• Categories:

o     2D Visual Arts

o     3D Visual Arts

o     Photography

o     Literature

o     Music Composition

o     Dance Choreography

o     Film Production 

Submission deadline: Saturday, October 15^th

Entries are submitted ONLINE at utahpta.org/ref

• Judging divisions: Preschool-Grade 2; Grades 3-5; Grades 6-8
• Entries are judged on: Interpretation of theme, artistic merit/creativity, and mastery of medium.
• Category Rules: This link has the rules for each category.
• Watch a YouTube video to see how it's done here!
• Questions?: Email Melissa Montero: melissmybliss@gmail.com

We’ll have our school's award ceremony on Thursday, November 3^rd at 6:30 pm in the auditorium! Everyone will receive a certificate of participation and a small prize. Winners at the school level will advance to the council level for judging.

There is SO much talent and creativity at Mountain View. We can’t wait to see what our students can do!

--Mountain View Elementary PTA

Follow this link to submit your entry!

Watch a YouTube video to see how it's done here!

Official rules for Reflections are found here.

Rules in Spanish are here.

Entries are judged on: interpretation of theme, artistic merit/creativity, and mastery of medium.Reflections uses a judging process that assists in narrowing down the number of entries as artwork passes through different levels of PTA. In Utah we generally have between 10,000 and 13,000 entries submitted each year, nationally around 300,000 entries are submitted.

There are 2 awards given by PTA - the Award of Excellence and the Award of Merit. The Award of Excellence award is given to the entries that are judged to be the best in their category. These entries then move on to the next level of judging. The Award of Merit recipients are the runners up and are recognized at the school, council and region level. If a school (council and region) desires, they can also offer additional awards such as Honorable Mention or Participation awards. National and Utah PTA encourage schools to hold an assembly or event of some sort that recognizes not only the students who receive awards but all students that participate. If this is done and how it is handled is up to the school/council/region.

How artwork advances in Utah - In Utah, our state is broken into 21 Regions. Eleven of those regions are large enough that they are then broken into Councils (we have 56 Councils.) The council and region leaders work with Utah PTA to train and oversee the PTA programs held in the schools. When the Award of Excellence winners advance from their school they move to Council or Region, depending on your area. Students artwork must receive an Award of Excellence to advance through these levels and then to Utah PTA. If they receive an Award of Excellence at the state level, they are then advanced to National PTA for the final round of judging. Each level in the PTA is allowed to forward on up to 30 entries - 5 for each of the 6 arts categories.

Utah PTA Reflections

If you need help submitting online or have other questions, email Melissa Montero: melissmybliss@gmail.com