Reflections

National PTA Reflections 2024-2025 Call for Entries! Theme: "Accepting Imperfection" Categories: Dance choreography, Film production, Literature, Music composition, Photography, Visual arts Explore the arts and express yourself! Get involved! PTA.org/Reflections

Reflections is a National PTA arts in education program. The program was started in 1969 and is the largest arts program of its kind in the United States. Students have the opportunity to use their creative talents by expressing themselves through their own original works created around a theme that changes each year. The theme for the 2024-2025 year is Accepting Imperfection.

Reflections is not “just an art contest.”  It helps kids take risks, be inspired, think creatively, and be celebrated for their creativity and work. Studies have shown a positive relationship between the arts and well-being. Get more information about the National PTA Reflections program.

Jump directly to:
Categories | Divisions | Judging | Key Dates
Student Entry Forms | Resources for Local PTAs
Advancing Local Entries to Council
2024-2025 Council-Level Winners | 2026-2027 Theme Contest

Reflections Eligibility

Lake Washington PTSA Council’s Reflections program welcomes all grades and abilities to explore and be involved in the arts. Any PTA/PTSA in good standing (as of the date shown below) according to PTA Standards of Affiliation may sponsor a Reflections program. Only students attending a school with a participating PTA/PTSA can participate and should submit their original artwork directly to their local PTA or PTSA.

Reflections Categories & 2024-25 Entry Guidelines

A student may submit an entry in any of six categories. (Click the inked categories below to see the entry guidelines.)

  • Dance Choreography [Coreografía de Danza] — Originally choreographed dance composition presented in a video entry
  • Film Production [Producción Cinematográfica] — Original works, with or without sound, of animation, narrative, documentary, experimental or multimedia
  • Literature [Literatura] — Original works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, prose, drama, reflective essay, narrative or short story. Entries must be a single literary work; collections are not accepted.
  • Music Composition [Composición Musical] — Original musical composition, with or without words, presented in an audio recording
  • Photography [Fotografía] — Color or black and white. Included techniques: Photogram, panorama, photomontage (one print of multiple original photos), single or multiple exposure, negative sandwich.
  • Visual Arts [Artistes Visuales] — Drawing; painting in tempera, oil, acrylic, watercolor or T-shirt paints; computer-generated art; two-dimensional collage; printmaking; needlework; leather tooling (see link for all accepted visual art forms). NOTE: LWPTSA Council is accepting ONLY 2D visual art. [Sólo aceptamos obras en 2D.]

ACCEPTED FORMATS: Council accepts only digital entries (digital files, PDFs, etc.) submitted virtually. (Hard copies of finalist selections should be collected to display at our January 2025 open house.) See each category’s rules for acceptable file formats.

Reflections Divisions for 2024-25

Participation is organized by student age and grade levels. Student works are evaluated against others in the same division. This allows recognition and critique of artworks by appropriate developmental age and skill levels. The divisions are:

Primary: Preschool – Grade 2
Intermediate: Grades 3 – 5
Middle School: Grades 6 – 8
High School: Grades 9 – 12

Additionally, the Accessible Arts Division (formerly Special Artist) [División de Arte Accesible] is an option for students with a disability as defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Generally, rules and guidelines within the Accessible Arts division are intended to ensure accessibility to the National PTA Reflections program and are modeled after the guidelines outlined in the ADA. Local PTA chairs should verify that artists meet the criteria before judging.

Judging

While the primary focus of Reflections is a celebration of creativity through positive recognition, finalists from local PTAs may advance to LWPTSA Council, then Council-level finalists will advance to Washington State PTA (WSPTA) judging. Lastly, WSPTA finalists who receive an “Outstanding Interpretation” award will then advance to the National PTA round.

Entries are evaluated based on creative ability and interpretation of the theme by impartial volunteer judges identified from the community by our Reflections program committee. Students’ names and identifying information are concealed from the entries before judging, for purposes of fair evaluation. [See “Program Resources” below for judges’ guide.]

2024-2025 Key Dates

Sept. 30, 2024 (7 pm)LWPTSA Council Reflections Kick-Off Meeting for Local Chairs (Zoom)View slides here (PDF)
Nov. 18, 2024Standards of Affiliation CheckpointIf your PTA/PTSA is not in good standing (defined by WSPTA Standards of Affiliation) by this date, Council cannot accept your entries. Check with your president to confirm your PTA is in good standing.
Nov. 18, 2024 (10 pm)Local Finalist Entries Due to LWPTSA Council
(Online)		Local chairs must finish online submission of entries advancing to Council no later than 10 pm on this date. Late entries will not be accepted. Please do not wait until this evening to submit your entries.
Nov. 19, 2024Local Chair Check-In (Zoom)A Council Reflections Committee representative will meet with each local Reflections chair to confirm submissions. Each chair must sign up for a 10-minute virtual meeting in advance, as described in Step #3 here.
December 2024Council Judging Process
Jan. 6, 2025LWPTSA Council Announces WinnersFind our announcement here!
Jan. 15, 2025 (12 pm)Council-Level Entries Due to WSPTANo action needed from local chairs. LWPTSA Council Reflections team will upload all advancing entries.
Jan. 24, 2025 (6 to 8 pm)
Artwork remains on display for one week		LWPTSA Council Reflections Open House
(LWSD Resource Center)		Join our celebration featuring our local PTAs’ finalist artworks (see event listing). Local chairs will be notified of set-up and collection dates/times.
March 2025WSPTA Announces State-Level Winners
May 1, 2025National PTA Announces Nationwide Winners 

Student Entry Information for 2024-25

Program Resources for PTAs

Contact Us

2024-2025 LWPTSA Reflections Co-Chairs: Kristy Lu & Emily Sparks — Email: Reflections (at) LWPTSA.net

Questions? Contact Council’s Reflections team at Reflections {at} LWPTSA.net. Local PTAs’ Reflections Chairs are also welcome to join our LWPTSA Council Reflections Chairs Facebook Group, where members can share ideas and ask questions.