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               National PTA Reflections® Program General Participation Rules

 

Students must adhere to the General Participation Rules
as well as the rules for their specific arts categories.

 

Student Eligibility:  Students must participate in the National PTA Reflections® Program through a local PTA/PTSA in good standing.  Parent groups not affiliated with National PTA are not eligible to sponsor this program.  It is the responsibility of the state and local PTA/PTSA to determine each student’s eligibility in the National PTA Reflections® Program. A student may develop an entry in or outside of school.

 

Grade Divisions:  Students may enter the National PTA Reflections® Program in the appropriate division for their grade.

 

Primary                : Preschool – Grade 2                    

Intermediate: Grades 3-5

Middle School: Grades 6-8

High School: Grades 9-12

Special Artist: Ungraded

 

 

If students do not fall under specific grade divisions, Nation PTA suggests they be grouped in the divisions below.

 

Primary: Up to age 7  

Intermediate: Ages 8-10

Middle School: Ages 11-13

High School: Ages 14+   

Special Artist: Ungraded

 

Arts Categories: There are six arts categories – dance choreography, film production, literature, musical composition, photography and visual arts. Students may enter the National PTA Reflections Program in one or more arts categories.

National PTA Reflections® Theme:  “The world would be a better place if”

The theme for the 2014 – 2015 National PTA Reflections® Program is “The world would be a better place if.” Only new pieces of artwork inspired by the theme may be submitted.

 

Student Entry Process: Students enter the National PTA Reflections® Program at local levels. Program dates, deadlines, and local procedures are determined at State and Local levels. Students are advised to check with local programs for information specific to local procedures and program deadlines.

 

Only students that advance to the next round will be asked to complete an online student entry form. Other student participants may be asked to complete a local entry form for tracking purposes.
 

Program and Technical Requirements:

  • All artwork must contain a title and all entries must include an artist statement. The artist statement communicates what inspired the work, how it relates to the theme, and the content of the work. The statement must include at least one sentence, but may not exceed 100 words.

  • Each entry must be the original work of one student only.  An adult may not alter the creative integrity of a student’s work. Because the program is designed to encourage and recognize each student’s individual creativity, help from an adult or collaboration with other students is not allowed except in the Special Artist Division.  Only one student may be recognized as the award recipient for each entry. 

Other individuals may appear in or perform a student’s work, but the work itself must be the creative product of one student only. See the specific Arts Category Rules for details.

  • Use of copyrighted material is prohibited, except for recorded music in dance choreography and film production entries.  

  • Plagiarized entries will be disqualified and returned to the student. Plagiarism is defined as taking and using another person’s ideas, writings, or inventions as one’s own.

  • Students entering the National PTA Reflections® Program at local levels should follow submission rules provided by Local PTAs. Upon completion of the local program, students whose winning entries are selected to advance to the next level of the competition will complete an online entry form.

  • Browser Recommendations: The National PTA Reflections Web pages can be accessed using any of the following browsers: Chrome 12 and greater; Firefox 3 and greater; Safari 4 and greater; and Internet Explorer 6 and greater.

  • File Formats: PTAs should follow their State PTA guidelines for file formats related to artwork. State PTAs can submit any of the following file formats with a maximum file size of 1GB (gigabyte) to the National PTA Reflections Program:

  • Video: AVI, MOV, MPG, MPEG, WMV, FLV

  • Audio: MP3, MP4, WMA, WAV, ACC, FLAC

  • Images: JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP

  • Documents: DOC, DOCX, PDF,PPT, PPTX, HTML, XHTML, TXT, RTF, ODT

Judging:

All national entries are judged on:

  • Interpretation of the National PTA Reflections® theme – “The world would be a better place if”

  • Artistic merit

  • Creative merit

  • Technical merit

 

The National PTA Reflections® Program makes no restrictions on content or subject matter in artwork. Each PTA/PTSA determines its own judges for the program.  Under no condition may parents or students contact the judges to dispute the status of any entry.  All decisions of judges are final.

 

For more information about National PTA’s Reflections program, visit PTA.org/Reflections.

 

                         National PTA Reflections® Program Visual Arts Rules

 

All participants must also follow General Rules for Participation.

Description

A visual arts entry must be an original print, drawing, painting, collage, photographic collage, metal etching or punch work, fiber work or computer-generated artwork that relates to the current Reflections® Program theme. Entries are judged primarily on how well the student uses his or her artistic vision to portray the theme.

Presentation & Format

  • All art must be flat and may not be more than 3/8 inch thick. This includes all two-dimensional materials and images, including small, flat items (such as string, fabric, and screening) that have maximum surface contact with the face of the image. Nothing three-dimensional (noodles, beans, beads, boxes, etc.) may extend off the surface of a work.

  • Entries must not exceed 24 inches by 30 inches, including a mat.

  • Entries may be submitted on paper, canvas board, cardboard, hot or cold pressboard or canvas (not to exceed 3/8-inch thickness).

  • Mount all paper entries on sturdy cardboard mats, but not in wood, metal, plastic or glass frames.

  • No Lamination because it can permanently damage the surface of the artwork.

Works Not Accepted: Sculpture, ceramics and other three-dimensional artwork; Stained glass and jewelry, regardless of thickness; Reproductions or enlargements of other artwork

Use of Copyrighted Material

Use of copyrighted material, including any copyrighted cartoon characters or other such material, is not acceptable in any visual arts submission, with the following exceptions:

  • Visual art work may include public places, well-known products, trademarks or certain other copyrighted material as long as that copyrighted material is incidental to the subject matter of the piece and/or is a smaller element of a whole. The resulting work cannot try to establish an association between the student and the trademark/business/material, or influence the purchase/non-purchase of the trademarked good.

  • Visual arts collages may include portions of existing copyrighted works, such as photographs, magazine clippings, Internet images and type cut out of a newspaper, as long as those portions of copyrighted works are used to create a completely new and different work of art. A collage should be judged for its whole, not by its parts, and whether the resulting work stands as a creative, original work of art on its own.

Submission Instructions: Follow your State PTA guidelines regarding required submission format.

  • Label back of artwork with your full name, arts category, division, and state.

  • Submit entry form with artwork to your PTA Reflections Chair

  • Save electronic file on a CD not exceeding 1 GB (one gigabyte) in file size.

  • Acceptable file formats include: JPEG, PNG, BMP.

  • Label CD with the title of your artwork, arts category, and division.

  • Submit envelope to your PTA Reflections Chair containing your CD and student entry form.

  •  

                           National PTA Reflections® Program Photography Rules

 

All participants must also follow General Rules for Participation.

 

Description

A photography entry must be an original black-and-white or color image produced by a photographic process. The entry must relate to the current Reflections Program theme. Entries are judged primarily on how well the student uses his or her artistic vision to portray the theme.

The entry may incorporate such techniques as photomontage, multiple exposure, negative sandwiches and photograms. Images may be manipulated conventionally or digitally. Images should demonstrate the student’s proper use of photographic techniques such as depth of field and exposure. The images may be created using various lenses, filters and light sources. Photographs with added graphics over the image, including lettering, are not acceptable.

 

Presentation & Format

  • A single print or collage may not exceed 11 inches by 14 inches, including matting.

  • Mount all prints on a cardboard mat, poster board, or some other sturdy material.

  • No lamination.

  • Framed entries, original film (negatives or transparencies) and multidimensional pieces are not accepted.

 

Use of Copyrighted Material

Use of copyrighted material, including copyrighted cartoon characters or other such material, is not acceptable in any photography submission, with the following exception:

Photographs may include public places, well-known products, trademarks or certain other copyrighted material as long as that copyrighted material is incidental to the subject matter of the piece and/or is a smaller element of a whole. The resulting work cannot try to establish an association between the student and the trademark/business/material, or influence the purchase/non-purchase of the trademarked good.

 

How to submit photo:

  • Follow presentation & format guidelines above.

  • Submit envelope to your PTA Reflections Chair containing your printed photo and student entry form.

  • Save electronic file on a CD not exceeding 1 GB (one gigabyte) in file size.

    • Accepted file formats include:  JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP.

  • Label CD with the title of your artwork, arts category, and division.

  • Submit envelope to your PTA Reflections Chair containing your CD and student entry form.

 

                          National PTA Reflections® Program Literature Rules

 

All participants must also follow General Rules for Participation.

Description

Literature entries may be a work of fiction or nonfiction. Prose, poetry and drama are all accepted. The entry must relate to the current National PTA Reflections® Program theme. Whether an entry uses a variety of techniques or a simple approach, it will be judged primarily on how well the student uses his or her artistic vision to portray the theme.

Presentation & Format

  • Entries must not exceed 2,000 words.

  • Entries may be handwritten or typed.

  • Include page numbers & include student name on back of each page.  

  • Illustrated entries, including “books,” with pictures drawn by the student are acceptable; however, only literary content is judged.

  • Collections of poems or short stories are not accepted.

  • Entries are to reflect grade-appropriate grammar, punctuation and spelling.

Dictation and Typing

  • Students may have their entries typed by another person as long as the original work or a copy of the original work is attached.

  • Students in pre-school, kindergarten or 1st grade may dictate to another person who may print or type exact words as spoken by the student.

  • Transcribers should make every attempt to retain the same level of language and accuracy that is reflected in the student’s original work.

Translation

  • Students for whom English is not their first language may submit literature entries in their own language.An interpretive translation in English must accompany the entry.

  • Translators should make every attempt to retain the same level of language and accuracy that is reflected in the student’s original work.

 

Submission Instructions:

 

  • Submit literature works on 9.5 x 11 paper.

  • Submit envelope to your PTA Reflections Chair containing two paper copies of literature entry and student entry form.

  • Save on CD 1 GB (one gigabyte) in file size.

    • Acceptable file formats for typed literature documents: DOC, DOCX, PDF,PPT, PPTX

    • Acceptable file format for hand written literature documents: PDF

  • Label with the title of your artwork, arts category, and division.

  • Submit envelope to your PTA Reflections Chair containing your CD and student entry form.

 

                     National PTA Reflections® Program Film Production Rules

 

All participants must also follow General Rules for Participation.

Description

A film production entry must be an original work of fiction or nonfiction relating to the current Reflections Program theme. The student submitting the entry must be the director, screenwriter, and camera person. If the student chooses to use a computer, all storyboarding, editing, etc. must be done by the student. The student is not required to appear in the film but if the student chooses to, a camera tripod may be used. Entries may or may not include sound. Entries are judged primarily on how well the student uses film as an artist tool to communicate his/her Reflection on the theme.

Presentation & Format

  • Production must not exceed 5 minutes in length and 1GB (one gigabyte) in file size.

  • Accepted file formats include:  AVI, MOV, MPG, MPEG, WMV, FLV.

Styles

  • Animation: Hand-drawn, created from a collection of objects, clay, torn paper, etc. or computer-generated.

  • Narrative: A story told through the images created on film or computer. (This is not the same as a storyteller narrating an original story.)

  • Documentary: A nonfiction documentary using narration, facts and images.

  • Experimental: A video that explores movement, light and montage.

  • Media presentations: Computer-generated media presentations must be completely original, and the student must do all the work. Cutting and pasting from other sources is not permitted. The use of software that allows the user to build a virtual environment using prefabricated characters and elements is not permitted.  Any software used to create an entry should only enhance and present the work, not to provide the primary design.

  • PowerPoint presentations are prohibited because most graphic elements of PowerPoint are copyrighted.

Use of Other Copyrighted Material

Films may include public places, well-known products, trademarks, or certain other copyrighted material as long as that copyrighted material is incidental to the subject matter of the piece and/or is a smaller element of a whole. The resulting work cannot try to establish an association between the student and the trademark/business/material, or influence the purchase/non-purchase of the trademarked good.

Any background music used in a film entry must be credited and documented on the Student Entry Form by indicating the title of the music, its composer and its performer(s). If the entry’s connection to the theme is expressed in the song choice, this should be explained in the artist statement.

Tips for Audio/Visual Quality

Use a tripod to hold the camera still; make sure there is plenty of lighting, especially if shooting indoors; turn off all noise-making devices in the room (air conditioners, fans, telephones, etc.); and make sure the background music (if any) is audible on the recording. 

Submission Instructions

  • Record production as an electronic file on a CD/DVD.

  • Label CD/DVD with the title of your artwork, arts category, and division.

  • Submit envelope to your PTA Reflections Chair containing your CD/DVD and student entry form and any consent forms from participants.

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