LWPTSA Council’s Reflections team is looking forward to receiving our local PTAs’ finalist entries that are advancing to our council-level competition! Local Reflections chairs, please read the following instructions carefully so that your entries are correctly named, with proper file formatting, and ready for our judges to fairly evaluate them.
For 2024-2025, LWPTSA Council is accepting:
- 10 entries per PTA/PTSA (not per category)
- PLUS up to 6 Accessible Arts division entries per PTA/PTSA
All entries advancing to Council must demonstrate the “Accepting Imperfection” theme and must be of good enough quality to compete against the best entries from the other PTAs in LWPTSA Council. Please do not advance entries that have not been judged, and please do not advance all your entries just because you happen to have fewer than 10 total entries.
Visit our main Reflections page for program rules for each category, entry forms, resources for local PTA Reflections chairs, and a complete list of key dates for LWPTSA Council’s ’24-’25 Reflections program.
Eligibility
We will only accept entries from local PTAs that are in good standing (as defined by WSPTA) by Nov. 18, 2024. Only PTAs in good standing may participate in Reflections (SOA requirement). Double-check with your president right away to confirm your PTA is in good standing.
Deadline for Advancing Entries
Local PTAs/PTSAs that are in good standing must finish submitting all advancing entries to LWPTSA Council by 10 pm at the latest on Monday, Nov. 18. This is a hard deadline! Please do not wait till the evening of the 18th — log in a few days before the deadline.
Uploading Entries Advancing From Local PTAs to the Council-Level Round
We appreciate your commitment to serve as a chair to one of PTA’s most popular programs, the Reflections art competition, this year. Here are the instructions for how to upload your advancing entries to LWPTSA Council’s round of competition:
- Please make sure you confirm that all advancing entries meet the following points:
- You must use the unique file-naming convention detailed in the below instructions before you upload.
- Sign up here for a 10-minute Zoom meeting slot on Nov. 19 so we can walk through and confirm your advancing entries and answer any questions that you may have. Please join your online meeting at the time you sign up for using the corresponding link listed below.
- Upload your advancing entries to LWPTSA Council’s OneDrive. You will need to select your respective PTA/PTSA folder, fill out the Excel spreadsheet, and then upload your files to the corresponding category folders that have already been created. Entries that are not completely uploaded to Council’s OneDrive by 10 pm on November 18 will not be accepted by Council.
Reminder: We need two files for each entry. One is the entry form, AND second is the entry for each submission. (Note: Music Composition, at Middle and High School level will need a PDF comprising of a score as well — so, THREE files will be uploaded for MC in those two age divisions)
You will be required to upload a digital image of each Photography or Visual Arts entry or the digital file for Dance Choreography, Film Production, Literature and Music Composition. Accepted file formats are listed in each category’s rules.
Note: Collect physical copies of all advancing artworks (except for Music Composition, Dance Choreography & Film Production); mount them on a rigid backing; print out name, category, division and the artist statement; and slide them into a transparent sleeve to display on grids for our open house (Jan. 25, 2025) without damaging them. (More details to come in January.)
Should you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact Council’s Reflections co-chairs, Kristy Lu & Emily Sparks, at Reflections [at] LWPTSA.net.
Unique File-Naming System for Uploaded Entries
We will be using a unique file name to connect the entry form information and the file name for each entry advancing to Council. Local chairs must use the following system to create a unique file name for each entry:
- The last set of numbers in your PTA’s local ID: 2.8.xxx (three digits; place 0s in front if your number is fewer) — Find your PTA’s local ID
- Two letters to represent the art category: DC, FP, LT, MC, PH, VA
- One letter to represent the age division: P, I, M, H, or S (for Special Artist division)
- The student’s first and last initial
- The number of the entry from your local PTA: Use two digits between 01-10 (16-21 for Accessible Arts entries)
This will give each entry a unique 10-character file name.
Example 1: Lake Washington High School PTSA’s local PTA ID is 2.8.95. A Photography entry from Supriya Singh is the 4th entry from LWHS PTSA that is advancing to Council. The identification for this entry is 095PHHSS04, and the file name is 095PHHSS04.jpg.
Example 2: Audubon PTSA’s local PTA ID is 2.8.5. Heesun Park’s Literature entry is the 1st of Audubon PTSA’s Accessible Arts entries that is advancing to Council. The identification for this entry is 005LTSHP16, and the file name is 005LTSHP16.pdf.
Online Meeting Links
Join your 10-minute online meeting slot a few minutes early, using the below links: