Reflections is back at Frost! Submissions Due November 2nd!

Last week, Ms. Lara went to Frost during the students’ lunches to talk about the National PTA Reflections program. It’s always fun for her to go in and chat with the kids, but it’s even more fun when she gets to tell them about something that’s important to her. As an artist, art education in schools is something that she values deeply, and National PTA has done a lot to help increase art education. One of the most visible things they’ve done is the Reflections Program.

From the National PTA Website, the PTA Reflections Program “provides access to the arts and opportunities for recognition to help students explore their own thoughts, feelings and ideas using art and to develop confidence and a love for learning that will help them become more successful in school and in life.”

Every year themes are submitted by students around the country. Of those submissions, one is chosen to be the theme for the following year’s competition. Last year’s theme was “I Belong” and some of the pieces are incredible. You can see a selection of last year’s winners on the National PTA Reflections Website.

This year’s theme is “What My Culture Means to Me.”

We have such a wonderfully diverse community at Frost, that this seemed like the perfect theme to launch our Reflections program. So here we are!

Students are encouraged to create a work of art (in one of six categories) that reflects on the theme.

The six categories in the program are: Dance Choreography, Film Production, Literature, Music Composition, Photography, & Visual Arts. The requirements and descriptions of each category can be found on the Reflections page of our website.

The student’s had a bunch of great questions:

• Can I work with a friend? Yes and No. Each submission is individual. You can have friends in your project (for example, if you’re doing dance, they can dance with you), but the submission is only for 1 individual.
• Do I have to do it? Nope. This is a completely voluntary program. We may try to bring it into the classroom more in future years, but even then, there would be no requirement to submit the work.
• What do I get if I win? We’re still working on that. Each participant will be given a certificate. The top 10 entries from Frost will be forwarded on the Lake Washington PTA Council where they will go up against winners from the other 43 PTAs. Sixty-two winners from Council will go up to compete at the state level. The winners of State level will go on to Nationals.
• Related and specifically asked MULTIPLE times by the 4th and 5th graders: Do we win money? Possibly, but only if you win the National level and that is a $800 Young Artist Scholarship. (And no, it’s not Apple Pay or Venmo).

Since this is our first year bringing the Reflections program back to Frost, we’re on a shorter timeline and we’re still ironing out a few wrinkles, but our Reflections website is up and ready to answer all of your questions and to start accepting submissions! If there are other questions that you have, please don’t hesitate to email us at reflections.frostptsa@gmail.com

Submissions are due November 2nd.

We can’t wait to see the student’s entries!

Lara Hodo (PTSA President) & Jenny Leak Miller (PTSA Reflections Chair)