Become an Arts Advocate
PTA believes all students deserve the opportunity to take part in the arts, both in school and in the community. The arts can positively affect the entire school culture—especially student motivation, attitudes, and attendance—which encourages students to stay in school, succeed in school, succeed in work and succeed in life!
According to Americans for the Arts, students involved in the arts are:
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4 times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement
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4 times more likely to participate in a science or math fair
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3 times more likely to win an award for school attendance
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3 times more likely to be elected to class office
The LAPTA Reflections Chair is Rachel Penwell who can be reached at Reflections@LouisianaPTA.org.
Students,
If your PTA is not hosting the Reflections Program, you may enter your submission with the Louisiana Lagniappe PTSA. This requires a $5 membership with Lagniappe PTSA which is a statewide unit that anyone can join. See the Student page for entering contests.
Reflections Program
National PTA has a long-standing commitment to arts education. The Reflections program provides opportunities for recognition and access to the arts, which boosts student confidence and successes in the arts and in life. Each year, over 300,000 students in Pre-K through Grade 12 create original works of art. This 50+ year old program helps them explore their own thoughts, feelings, and ideas, develop artistic literacy, increase confidence, and find a love for learning that will help them become more successful. The Reflections theme is Accepting Imperfection!
Local PTA Units first register with LouisianaPTA.org. Then they choose which art categories their students will compete in which are Dance Choreography, Film Production, Literature, Music Composition, Photography, Visual Arts. Students can enter submissions into multiple categories.
Students must participate in their Grade Category: Primary (Pre-K - Grade 2), Intermediate (Grades 3-5), Middle School (Grades 6-8), High School (Grades 9-12), and Accessible Arts (students of all ages with an ADA Section 504). Students with the ADA Section 504 may enter in the Accessible Artist Division or the grade division most closely aligned to their functional abilities.
The Local PTA Unit submits their winners to LAPTA by January 19, 2025. Please set your deadlines earlier to give yourself enough time to pick your winners. All winners are submitted through an online portal. Local Units must be Actively Affiliated with LAPTA for their students to participate.
Steps to Participating in Reflections for Local Leaders
Step 1: Register with LAPTA
Local PTA Units first register their unit. LAPTA has Zoom training sessions to get everyone confident in running the Reflections Program for their PTA. The PTA chooses which art categories will be offered to their students: Dance Choreography, Film Production, Literature, Music Composition, Photography, Visual Arts.
National PTA tracks participation in the Reflections Program. Please also register with National PTA here. This is just a data collection for them.
Know your Grade Categories: Primary (Pre-K - Grade 2), Intermediate (Grades 3-5), Middle School (Grades 6-8), High School (Grades 9-12), or Accessible Arts (students of all ages with an ADA Section 504). Students with the ADA Section 504 may enter in the Accessible Arts Division or the grade division most closely aligned to their functional abilities.
National PTA has a Local Leader's Guide to Reflections (en español) that can help you get started.
Set your deadline: The Local PTA Unit submits their winners to LAPTA by January 19, 2025. Please set your deadlines earlier to give yourself enough time for your judges to pick the winners. Decide how you will collect your student entries. One option is to use Jotform.com. Search for the Reflections Student Entry Form Template to replicate the Student Entry Form.
If you need help sharing files with your students, LAPTA has a page for students to access the file downloads at LouisianaPTA.org/students.
Step 2: Training
Please view the Reflections Introduction PDF. This is the first place to get started with the Reflections Program. Contact Rachel Penwell with any questions at Reflections@LouisianaPTA.org.
Reflections Training
Step 3: Customize and Distribute
Edit program materials to include available arts categories for participation, program deadlines, directions for submitting entries, distribute to program participants, student entry forms, and category rules. Include additional details in the student materials like contact information and additional rules for student eligibility. Decide how students will submit their works and entry form to you. You can use Jotform.com to collect everything digitally. Search for the Reflections Student Entry Form Template by LAPTA.
Each student needs to use the Student Entry Form. Before distributing to students, fill out the top section with the PTA's information. If your PTA is not including all art categories, go to Canva template to customize the categories for your PTA. You can also create a BAND group and add a QR Code to join your group. If you need help sharing files with your students, LAPTA has a page for students to access the file downloads at LouisianaPTA.org/students.
All Downloads
Step 4: Promote, Recruit, and FAQs
Promote
Share the program information with teachers, especially gifted and talented teachers. Ask your PTA President and the principal how to best advertise the program at your school. Personalize the Reflections flyers and materials. BAND is an all-in-one group communication app that helps to manage your Reflections program. Visit PTA.org/Reflections/StartYourProgram to find the "BAND and Your Reflections Program" resource and learn about the many features BAND has to offer, including file sharing, chat rooms and posts. If you need help sharing files with your students, LAPTA has a page for students to access the file downloads at LouisianaPTA.org/students.
Recruit Volunteers
Recruit Volunteers for your Reflections Committee and delegate tasks to promote the program, coordinate judging, and host celebration events. Judging MUST be impartial and not have a family member participating in the entries being judged. A Judges Rubric will be provided.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Can students work together on an entry? Technically, an entry must be entered under one person's name. Louisiana PTA will try and acknowledge each person if they win an award, such as a dance group who all helped with the choreography. If they advance to the National PTA Contest, National PTA will only recognize one person.
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Can students work on their entries at home? Yes!
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Can students enter more than one category? Yes!
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Can a young student dictate their Artist Statement to a parent? Yes, they can as long as the parent does not edit the statement. A parent could also include a "translation" of the student's statement.
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Can Artificial Intelligence (AI) be used in any way? No, Artificial Intelligence is not allowed to be used in any way for this contest.
Step 5: Judging
Set the deadline for your Local PTA Unit so that you have enough time to judge your entries and submit to LAPTA by January 19, 2025. Give yourself and the judges two to four weeks depending on the number of anticipated submissions. Find judges that are knowledgeable and experienced in the category they will be judging. You will provide them with a Judge's Rubric. Once the judges return with their scores, you can pick three winners per grade category that your PTA covers. These winners are then forwarded within the Portal to LAPTA. Announce your winners at your school and celebrate the students! See Local Leader Portal Instructions for directions on submitting winners to LAPTA. The link to the portal will be emailed directly once it's open.
Summary & Deadline (January 19, 2025)
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Register your Reflections Program Leader with LAPTA at https://form.jotform.com/231397127809160.
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LAPTA accepts entries in all six Arts Categories. The Local PTA Unit decides which Arts Categories their students can enter: Dance Choreography, Literature, Visual Arts, Film Production, Music Composition, and Photography. If you need help sharing files with your students, LAPTA has a page for students to access the file downloads at LouisianaPTA.org/students.
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Eligible Local PTA Units can submit three (3) entries from each Arts Category per Grade Division to LAPTA for judging at the state level. If your school has more than one Grade Division, you may submit three entries for each of those separate divisions. Grade Divisions are Primary (Pre-K to Grade 2), Intermediate (Grades 3-5), Middle School (Grades 6-8), High School (Grades 9-12), and Accessible Arts (All grades).
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The Student Entry Portal link will be shared as soon as it is received from National PTA. This is the platform LAPTA uses to accept entries. See the Local Leader Portal Instructions on how to use the portal.
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ENTRY DEADLINE to LAPTA is Sunday, January 19, 2025. Set your local deadline well before to allow for your local judging.
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Local Units must be Actively Affiliated with LAPTA by January 1 for student entries to be accepted for judging by LAPTA.
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Louisiana PTA announces its winners on March 3, 2025. The "National Entry" 1st Place winners advance to National PTA for judging. Their winners are announced around May 1.
Past Reflections Winners
2023-24 Reflections Theme Search Winners
Reflections Theme Search Entry
The search is on for a future Reflections theme! Help National PTA pick the theme that will spark fun and creativity for a future Reflections program! The student who submits the final winning entry for National PTA will receive a $100 prize. We’re looking for the most original theme ideas. This means past themes and duplicate submissions will not be considered. Check out the past winning themes to make sure not to duplicate. Deadline is November 18, 2024.
Local PTAs only need to share the image with the students. Download PDF or right-click the image to save it.
Students submit their entries directly with LAPTA.
