Dear PTA presidents and Reflections chairs,

On October 1 you received the latest edition of the Seattle Council PTSA e-News Bulletin with information about this year's Reflections art competition.  We hope you will have many submissions from your students!

We would like to introduce ourselves as the new Reflections Co-Chairs for the Seattle Council PTSA.  We are delighted to be in the position to help move this art competition into an increasingly prominent position in the Seattle community.  This year's student-chosen theme is "The Magic of a Moment."  We are fortunate to have the support of the Seattle Center where our children's art work will be on display at the Harrison Street Gallery from December 10-31, with a reception, open to all, on Sunday, December 16, from 2-4 pm.

Some schools already have a Reflections Chair in place; if your school does not, we recommend that you share this e-mail with the principal and art teacher.  In schools without an art program, we hope a volunteer parent will help spread the word about Reflections and encourage students to participate.  Our role is to provide promotional information, coordination and general support.

All the information students need to submit an original work of art for Reflections can be found on the National PTA web site and/or the Washington State PTSA site. Please note that our submission deadline for the Seattle school district is Monday, December 3.  Art work from all schools must be dropped off on that day at the John Stanford Center, between 9am and 5pm.  Please ask for the Reflections table.  Every PTA may submit 15 works.

We are especially excited to alert you to this year's new category for submission of art work: the "Special Artist" division.  The National PTA nicely summarizes the 2012 Reflections program:

"Students in Pre-K through grade 12 create theme-based artwork in dance choreography, film production, literature, musical composition, photography or visual arts. The 2012-2013 Reflections theme is: The Magic of a Moment.

In 2012, National PTA launched the Special Artist Division - a non-graded division limited to students whose physical, cognitive, or mental health challenges meet the Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines. Qualifying students create their own artwork, but may receive non-artistic accommodation or assistance from an adult. Or, qualifying students may choose to follow all general and arts category rules, but receive accommodation to submit Reflections entries in the grade division most closely aligned to their functional abilities."

Thank you for helping us encourage artistic endeavor in all of our students.

Daphne Dejanikus dsdejan@hotmail.com
Leanne Hawkins hawkins1022@msn.com
SCPTSA Reflections Co-Chairs