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| | The Reflections Program - an Arts
Recognition and Achievement Program For Students
View pictures of
the 2008-09 Entries & Participants!
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The 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 program offers
students the opportunity to create works of art for fun and recognition.
Students in preschool through grade 12 are encouraged to create and submit works
of art in six areas: dance/choreography, literature, film/video, musical composition, photography, and the
visual arts (which includes art forms such as drawing, painting, print making,
and collage.) In its more than 30-year history, the program has encouraged
millions of students across the nation and in American schools overseas to
create works of art. The Reflections Program was started in 1969 by then
Colorado PTA President Mary Lou Anderson.
For more information regarding the national
program,
click here |
For other information and FAQs,
click here |
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Connecticut State PTA Reflections
Program:
| National PTA Recognition
In each arts area, National PTA gives out 12 Awards of
Excellence - three for each grade division. Up to five Awards of Merit may
be chosen in each arts area and grade division. Award of Excellence
recipients receive a $200 cash award and a silver-plated Reflections
medallion. Award of Merit recipients receive a silver-plated Reflections
medallion. Additional sponsor gifts may be given.
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You can obtain the Reflections Program information sheets
and forms from the National PTA website. Please ask your school administrator for his/her
assistance in distributing the information to students. Let parents know how students can
enter Reflections Program through your newsletter. It is important to stress to the
participating students to focus their efforts on the Reflections theme.
Awards Presentation:
Participation in Reflections Program has increased through the years,
and Connecticut often has Award of Merit and Award of Excellence winners.
Reflections Program winners from Connecticut will be honored in an awards ceremony to be
held at the Annual CT PTA Convention.
Eligibility & Participation:
CT PTA limits the entries as follows:
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Any Connecticut PTA/PTSA in good
standing is eligible to sponsor a Reflections Program |
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Students participate in the Reflections Program by
submitting entries to their local PTA or PTSA |
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Each entry must be the original work of one student only |
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Only one entry per each art area per age division per unit may be
submitted (e.g. A school with K-5 may submit for the primary division which
is K-2, one literature, one photography, one music, one dance/choreography,
one film/video and one visual art entry
and for the intermediate division which is grades 3-5, one lit, one music,
one photo, one dance/choreography, one film/video and one visual art entry = total of
12 entries. A high school with
grades 9-12 can send in 6 entries.) |
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Use of copyrighted material is prohibited |
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Entries
must be accompanied by an attached and fully completed form for each
entry. |
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CT PTA does
make accommodations for special needs students...
see below. |
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CT PTA will adhere to the above criteria
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Deadlines:
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Grade Divisions:
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Primary (Ages up to 7, Preschool - Grade 2) |
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Intermediate (Ages 8-10, Grades 3 - 5) |
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Middle/Junior (Ages 11-13, Grades 6-8) |
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Senior (Ages 14+, Grades 9-12) |
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Arts Areas:
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Dance/Choreography |
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Literature |
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Film/Video |
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Musical Composition |
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Photography |
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Visual Arts |
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Exceptional
Children Category for Reflections
CT PTA agrees with the National PTA guidelines and
believes it is the right of parents to place their child in the
Reflections Program grade division that best reflects the child's
developmental age (if that is what a parent or guardian feels is best for
the child).
However, recognizing that exceptional children may be
unable to physically do the work themselves and need the assistance of a
teacher or adult, Connecticut PTA feels that an exceptional child should
be allowed to receive help with their work if it is needed.
CT PTA will now offer a separate category for
exceptional children. Plymouth-Terryville Council has piloted this program
for the last 3 years and it has worked very well. It must be indicated on
the entry form that this child is exceptional, for example, “Exceptional
Primary Music.”
Because National PTA does not have an Exceptional
Category the entries in this category will only be able to be forwarded to
the state level and not move on for judging at the National level.
Please contact the CT PTA
office with any questions.
Note: We had several entries from this special
category and several state winners. Be sure to bring this opportunity to
the attention of Special Education teachers and families. |
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FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions):
Who is eligible to participate?
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Participation in the Reflections Program is open to any student through a local PTA/PTSA in good standing. It is the responsibility of the local unit to determine each student's eligibility in the Reflections Program. |
Can students participate through a local PTA unit NOT
affiliated with their school?
| National PTA requires that national participants only come from local PTAs in good standing. |
May developmentally or physically challenged
students receive help from a parent or teacher?
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Recognizing that
special needs children may be unable to physically do the work
themselves and need the assistance of a teacher or adult, Connecticut
PTA feels that a special needs child should be allowed to receive help
with their work if it is needed. |
Under what division should developmentally
challenged students participate?
| CT PTA offers a separate category for
Exceptional Children. Click here to learn
more. |
May students use copyrighted material as a source for their artwork?
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Use of copyrighted material is not acceptable
in any submission, with the following exceptions:
Photographs, visual artworks, and films may include public places,
well-known products, trademarks, or certain other copyrighted material as
long as that copyrighted material is incidental to the subject matter of the
piece and/or is a smaller element of a whole. The resulting work cannot try
to establish an association between the student and the
trademark/business/material, or influence the purchase/non-purchase of the
trademarked good.
Visual arts collages may include portions of existing copyrighted works,
such as photographs, magazine clippings, Internet images, and type cut out
of a newspaper, as long as those portions of copyrighted works are used to
create a completely new and different work of art. A collage should be
judged for its whole, not by its parts, and whether the resulting work
stands as a creative, original work of art on its own.
Dance choreography and film production entries may use copyrighted music.
The title, composer, and performer of any music used must be credited and
documented on the Student Entry Form. |
I'm planning a Reflections program for my school.
How long before entries need to be submitted to the State should I start my
program?
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The actual "start time" will vary depending
on the number of participants, number of schools involved, etc. We advise
the local units to prepare a "reverse" calendar starting with an
estimated
due date (use Feb. 1 as a guideline) and working backwards to the beginning of the school year. You will need approx.
one month to process the
entries (receive the entries, judge them, and complete state forms by
listing your winners, checking entry forms, etc.) before forwarding the
winners to state. We also suggest that you schedule the judging and invite
the judges ahead of time allowing for the different times that people are
available to help you. TIP: Delegate, Delegate, Delegate! Also, it is really
essential that you read the rules for each section completely and any of the
other material prepared by National (CT PTA follows the National guidelines.) |
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Information, Rules and Entry Forms:
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All
information documents, rules, and forms for the CT PTA Reflections
Program are available below: |
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Tips for Local Units:
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To download the Reflections
Chairperson Booklet,
CLICK HERE |
Although additional information is not required of
the artist, judges often comment that they find this information helpful
for documentation purposes. Judges like to know how the artist was
inspired and by what process the inspiration was carried out. The
inspirational comments are also used in the virtual gallery. |
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When scheduling photos of the artwork, allow enough
time for slide processing. Slides take longer to process than
photographs. Some photo labs might take a week or more to process
slides. Also, the artwork should be shot in natural light either indoors
or outdoors. True colors do not photograph well under artificial light.
A flash is not necessary in natural light. |
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It is
important and recommended that Reflections Chairs check entry forms for
completeness and read the general rules and specific rules for each art
area to make sure entries are submitted according to the guidelines.
Incorrect or incomplete entry forms or student work which has not been
submitted correctly may be subject to disqualification at the state level. |
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Reflections Winners:
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For more information, contact:
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