It’s time to start collecting all of those Reflections projects to get them ready for the next level. There are a few steps to keep in mind at this point of sigimg0the program.

Judging
Please remember that you only need to judge if you have collected more projects that you can pass along to the next level. The number you can send along is determined by the next level in your area. Check with your PTA president to see where your projects should go next – to a council, district, or region PTA. If you are allowed to pass along 12 projects in each category, and you only receive 2 film entries, they can both move on provided they have all the correct paperwork to go with the entry and they follow the program rules. If you receive 20 visual arts pieces and only 12 can move on, you will need to judge the artwork.

Potential judges are actually all around you! Art teachers, professional photographers, English teachers, journalists, etc. can be found in your school and in your circle of acquaintances. Reach out to people who have knowledge of the art type and you’ll be surprised how easy it can be to find people to help.

When you set up the projects for judging, make sure the entry form is folded in half. All information that identifies the student’s name, school, etc. should be folded under and hidden. In the Local Leaders’ Guide there is a great rubric that your judges can use, along with a chart they can use for recording their scores. This rubric provided by National PTA uses a 40 point system that makes the judging easier for everyone involved.

Paperwork
For the paperwork, make sure that all of the student’s information is included on the form. There must be a title, an artist statement, and signatures from both the student and the parent attesting that the piece is original work and that PTA can use the project as part of the Reflections program. At the bottom of the form, the information about your dues, insurance and bylaws should be something that your local unit PTA president can help you with.
In order to protect student artwork, we are once again requiring that visual art and photography pieces are wrapped in cellophane. This is to protect the artwork as it is displayed and forwarded through the program. Each set of rules has detailed instructions on how the different categories should be packaged for the next level.

Congratulations on getting to this phase of the program! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me, Joan Scovic, Illinois PTA Cultural Arts Director, at jscovic@illinoispta.org or 224-400-8530.