And the LAPTA 2024-25 Winners Are!....
LAPTA advanced 17 student entries into the National PTA Reflections contest. Four students won a National PTA Award for their entries! Congratulations to all four of you!
Louisiana PTA sends its gratitude to every student and every PTA that supports the arts within their Local PTA Units with the Reflections Program. We love seeing so much creativity from students of all ages! There are three award levels: 1) National PTA Entry is the top award that only goes to one person per Art Category per Grade Division and they progress to the National PTA Reflections Contest who announces their winners by May 1; 2) Award of Excellence, and 3) Award of Merit. All students will receive an award and recognition from Louisiana PTA in late April or May when LAPTA travels to the PTAs to deliver the awards.
Thank you, Judges!
The judging is done blind by professionals in each category. LAPTA deeply appreciates the time they took to review and judge every entry. They were all so impressed with the entries by our creative students. Let's meet our talented judges!
Cristen Quick
Dance Choreography
The Dance Choreography judge was Ms. Cristen Quick. Her journey began as a young dancer and continued through junior high, high school, and college, where she competed on the national stage as a member of the LSU Tiger Girls and the University of Memphis Pom Dance Team. Following her competitive career, she then expanded her passion for dance into education and choreography, sharing her expertise with the next generation.
Jessica Montalvo
Film Production
Jessica is an educator at Salmen High School in Slidell, LA with over 15 years of experience in Visual Arts and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Digital Film Production from Grand Canyon University. Currently, Jessica serves as a Career Coach in secondary education, leveraging her expertise to support students in their academic and professional pursuits.
Laura Smith
Literature
Laura Smith is in her 16th year of teaching English Language Arts to Gifted 7th and 8th graders at Madisonville Junior High and was awarded the Teacher of the Year of her school in 2020. Miss Smith is an ardent supporter of her students' writing and enjoys reading and traveling. Her passion in life is to see her students give their best efforts, grow, and be happy in and outside the classroom.
Mel Rogers
Music Composition
Prior to retiring from STPSB in 2021, Mel Rogers taught Talented Music at Covington High. He has been a professional musician since the age of 14 and regularly performs in theater orchestras at the Saenger Theater, Jefferson Performing Arts, Tulane Summer Lyric, NOCCA, and other venues. He recently assembled a 30-piece orchestra to back up The Who when they performed at Jazz Fest.
Chris Granger
Photography
Chris Granger is an award-winning photojournalist based in New Orleans for the past 25+ years with his work appearing in many publications, magazines, and books. Granger was part of the team covering Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath for The Times-Picayune | NOLA.com, resulting in two Pulitzer Prizes for the newspaper. His photography has earned top awards from the Associated Press Media Editors (APME) and the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA).
Gretchen Armbruster
Visual Arts
Gretchen Armbruster opened her fine art school and studio in Covington where she teaches classes in all mediums, with a special focus on oils. She studied at LSU, the John McCrady School of Fine and Applied Arts, and the New Orleans Art Institute. She is known for her dramatic use of light and contrast of values in a painting with her original artwork found in many hospitals, businesses, and homes.
Some of the National PTA Entries
Sanjukta Reddy's "Imperfectly Perfect"
Tchefuncte Middle School PTA
Avika Khandelwal's "Stronger Through the Cracks"
Caddo Middle Magnet PTSA
Grayson Bruce's "Some of our greatest treasurer..."
South Highlands Elem Magnet PTA
Isabella Phan's "Perfectly Imperfect"
Magnolia Trace Elem PTA
Kadan Phan's "Not perfect, but I’m Fine"
Fontainebleau Junior High PTA
Gianni Lobre's "The Brave Tree"
Woodlake Elem PTA
Stella Dong's "Perfection in the Imperfection"
S. Highlands Elem Magnet PTA
Shaan Patel's "My Hypochromia"
Tchefuncte Middle School PTA
Maya Trutschl's "Flawed Perfection"
Caddo Magnet High PTSA
Myra Grace Singh's "My Imperfections, My Identity"
Eden Gardens Fund Elem Magnet PTA
Stella Dong's "Finding Value in the Unusual"
S. Highlands Elem Magnet PTA
Avika Khandelwal's "Wrinkles and Roots: A Tapestry of Imperfection"
Caddo Middle Magnet PTSA
Fahmieh Shalaby's "It’s Hard to be Perfect"
Captain Shreve High School PTSA
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), or Elementary Accessible Arts (students in Pre-K - Grade 5 with an ADA Section 504) or Secondary Accessible Arts (students in Grade 6-12 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 LAPTA Reflections Chair is Jennifer Hale 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.
Steps to Participating in Reflections for PTA 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 has a Local Leader's Guide to Reflections (en español) that can help you get started. Also keep in mind that there are detailed guidelines that the students must follow for each art category. The specific guidelines are linked below. You can also direct students to download the guidelines and entry form at LouisianaPTA.org/students.
National PTA tracks participation in the Reflections Program. Please also register with National PTA here. This is just a data collection for them.
Please view the Reflections Introduction PDF. This is the first place to get started with the Reflections Program. Contact Jennifer Hale with any questions at Reflections@LouisianaPTA.org. We'll add meeting dates and recordings once they are available.
Step 2: Customize and Distribute
(Updates Coming Soon for 2025-26)
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. One option is to use Google Forms which is linked below. If you need help sharing files with your students, LAPTA has a page for students to access the file downloads at LouisianaPTA.org/students.
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, use the below Word doc or Canva template to customize the categories and flyer for your PTA. You can also create a BAND group and add a QR Code to join your group. The Local PTA Unit submits their winners to LAPTA by January 18, 2026. 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 perhaps using a Google Form template which is linked below.
All Downloads
Dance Choreography Student Guidelines (Spanish)
Film Production Student Guidelines (Spanish)
Literature Student Guidelines (Spanish)
Music Composition Student Guidelines (Spanish)
Photography Students Guidelines (Spanish)
Visual Arts Student Guidelines (Spanish)
Accessible Arts Student Guidelines (Spanish)
Step 3: 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 and Mistakes to Avoid
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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.
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For Film Production entries, students are to make a movie. They are not to be an actor in their film.
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For Music Composition, students are to create original pieces of music. This is not a performance of a song written by another person.
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For Dance Choreography, students create their own choreography, filmed without any stops or edits, and all music must be cited.
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For Visual Arts, the entry must be a new, original work of art created for this contest.
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For Literature, entries may not exceed 2,000 words. Collections (such as several poems) are not permitted.
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For Photography, students may not add non-photographic elements to their photographs such as graphics or text.
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The Accessible Arts Division has 2 divisions. Elementary Accessible Arts is for grades Pre-K - Grade 5 and Secondary Accessible Arts is for grades 6-12.
Step 4: 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.
Step 5: Submit Local Winners to LAPTA
Each PTA may submit three 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 per Arts Category.
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Grade Divisions are Primary (Pre-K to Grade 2), Intermediate (Grades 3-5), Middle School (Grades 6-8), High School (Grades 9-12), and Elementary Accessible Arts (Pre-K - Grade 5 with ADA 504) or Secondary Accessible Arts (Grade 6 - 12 with ADA 504).
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Arts Categories are Dance Choreography, Literature, Visual Arts, Film Production, Music Composition, and Photography.
Once your winners are selected, the Local PTA Leader submits their winners to LAPTA through the online portal which opens in December. See Local Leader Portal Instructions for directions on using the portal or watch a Zoom explaining the instructions. Do not share the portal link with students. Deadline to submit entries to LAPTA is January 18, 2026. Winners will be announced on March 2, 2026.
Summary & Deadline (January 18, 2026)
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Register your Reflections Program Leader with LAPTA.
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There are six Arts Categories: Dance Choreography, Literature, Visual Arts, Film Production, Music Composition, and Photography. The Local PTA Unit decides which Arts Categories their students can enter. 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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The Grade Divisions are Primary (Pre-K to Grade 2), Intermediate (Grades 3-5), Middle School (Grades 6-8), High School (Grades 9-12), and Elementary Accessible Arts (students in Pre-K - Grade 5 with an ADA Section 504) or Secondary Accessible Arts (students in Grades 6 - 12 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.
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Students need the Student Entry Form and the specific Guidelines for their art category so that they have all of the rules.
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Eligible Local PTA Units can submit three 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 (plus Accessible Arts Division), you may submit three entries for each of those separate divisions.
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The Student Entry Portal link is ONLY for PTA Leaders to submit entries. Students do NOT use this link. This is the platform LAPTA uses to accept entries. See the Local Leader Portal Instructions on how to use the portal or watch a Zoom explaining the instructions.
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ENTRY DEADLINE to LAPTA is Sunday, January 18, 2026. 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 2, 2026. The "National Entry" 1st Place winners advance to National PTA for judging. Their winners are announced around May 1.
Past Reflections Winners
Reflections Theme Search for 2025-26
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 16, 2025.
Local PTAs only need to share the image with the students. Right-click the image to save and then share it.
Students submit their entries directly with LAPTA.
