Top Tips for a Successful Reflections Art Program Presented at Spring 2013 MCCPTA Training Tips from Melissa & Chris, MCCPTA Reflections Co-Chairs: *Bookmark the MCCPTA website (http://www.mccpta.org/Reflections_Tool_Kit.html ) *Sign-up for the MCCPTA Reflections Yahoo Group (ReflectionsMCCPTA-subscribe@yahoogroups.com) *Artwork is due to MCCPTA Reflections Chairs in mid-to-late December each year. Start your program early in the school year to allow your students to reflect and create, and for your to provide opportunity for both an awards ceremony and an art showcase. *Make absolutely sure that your local PT(S)A is in good standing with MDPTA. All Standards of Continuing Affiliation (SoCA) requirements must be met. Please visit http://www.mccpta.org/SoCA_Requirements.html for details. *If your PTA president doesn’t know, contact Pam Loebach, the MCCPTA office manager - she will be able to assist you. Your school’s PTA must meet all criteria to be eligible to participate in Reflections. Don’t wait until you drop off your artwork to check – at that point it may be too late to correct errors or gather paperwork. Don’t wait – check now to allow time for your PTA officers to work with MCPTA if necessary. *Read the Reflections guidelines thoroughly, and e-mail or call Chris or Melissa with questions. Join the MCCPTA Reflections yahoo group AND read the e-mails from us – your questions will probably be answered there. *Showcase all of the wonderful artwork submitted by your school’s students and encourage all grade levels and abilities to participate in this art program. The PTA Reflections program focuses on the thoughtful reflection that goes into the creation of the artwork, not necessarily the mastery of the medium. Tips from Carla Morris, Reflections Chair, Potomac Elementary School: -
*Take photos of everything the students submit -- whether en masse or individually this can help in future promotions and in documenting what students submitted if anything goes amiss. And for the MCCPTA awards ceremony at the end of the spring. And for parents who want to show their relatives what their children created, if they didn't make a photo before submitting the entry.
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*Have a plan for displaying the entries at school so that all students see how wonderful their friends' talents are. Emphasize the entries over the wins. It's the creative process that counts for so much - and the joy in unfolding something special. *Have a plan for returning the entries with any ribbons/awards/MCCPTA rosettes given, at the end of the year, and include a flyer about next year's theme, with encouragement to enter again. The art teacher can be helpful here. Chasing down the parents and students can be time consuming and difficult... *Make sure to include the art and music teachers in the year-long process so they can support it as they have time. *The school's media specialist can be a great resource for helping students think about the theme, and how to interpret it artistically in any of the six mediums. *Think about making a photo montage of entries submitted for any school promotions -- if you have a school live broadcast via a media club, a principal's newsletter, a weekly parent email, etc. Make sure the students see how much their efforts are valued and appreciated! The Picasa photo application offers a terrific montage-making feature. *Ladd Belvesius in Washington State, at http://olympicribbons.com/reflections.html makes wonderful Reflections ribbons for a great cost. He's a super nice guy. And once you give him your school's name plate, you can use it for other award ceremonies for other activities (we use him for our Science Fair ribbons too), without an additional tailoring charge. Tips from Tabatha Yeatts-Lonske, Wootton HS, Richard Montgomery HS, & Cabin John MS Reflections Chair: I have coordinated Reflections for five different schools over the past seven years, sometimes as many as three at once, and here are a few things I've learned: * If the school has already held Reflections before, ask the person who did it before you for tips specific to your school. Sometimes there are specific teachers who support the program. * Contact art, English, and music teachers with information about Reflections. Also, photography and media teachers, if there are any. Ask teachers to let you know if they assign it -- that can change the number of judges you will need. Usually I need
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visual arts, literature, and photography, but at schools where it has been assigned, I've also needed music composition and video production judges. * Don't forget to send info to webmasters for your school's website. * I usually have the entry box at the media center, so I also contact the media specialist and ask them whether that would be okay. They have always been very supportive. They generally like to have extra entry forms there. * The point, for me, has always been to make the program available for kids who want to do it. Keeping what is important in mind helps when things get aggravating :-) * Kids who turn in their entries with no parental help often do not follow the guidelines that well. I have received photos in frames, photos taken beyond the accepted time frame, stories that were too long, entry forms with no parent signature. Some things can be fixed; others (like old photos) can't. * I fix up entries that are turned in without mats or covering or envelopes. You might want to have that stuff on hand. Last year I think it took me about 1/2 hour per winning entry , on average, to get them ready for county (make copies, get the proper forms filled out, format them) * I usually have requests from entrants to bring their entry to my home the weekend after the Friday due date. I let them. One time, I came to a school to pick up entries and found a student trying to mat her entries right there next to the box. I told her she could bring them to my house later (she was struggling to finish them on the spot). * It is really the quality, not quantity, of the entries that counts. You can have a successful year with a small number of entries. * Morning announcements/school tv shows are good places to let kids know about Reflections.
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* Be sure to let your supportive teachers, PTSA president, and school principal if any of your students win at county or beyond! Also, putting up congratulations posters is a nice idea.
From Paul Geller, MCCPTA VP for Programs, Belmont Elementary School *To get kids and parents interested in the Reflections program we mentioned it at all PTA meetings including our Back-To-School Night. We gave a brief description of the program and touted the fact it was a free competition. * Next, to bolster the shameless touting of how great the Reflections program is, my Reflections Chair and I crafted an entertaining and humorous e-mail sent to everyone at the school. The entire program was outlined in this e-mail. *To make things even easier on the parents, we offered a one-hour "workshop" after school on a specific day. Kids were encouraged to stop by and create works of visual and writing art during this special event. Eleven of our eighteen entries came from this one "workshop" alone. And, amazingly enough, among the three parents supervising this, other than reminding a few kids to write their names on their submissions, the kids needed zero guidance or prodding from us at all. *Finally, I would encourage everyone to participate because the awards ceremony Melissa and Chris put together was amazing. Seeing the artwork, photographs and writing on display was awe inspiring! I cannot wait to see what next year will bring!
MCCPTA Reflections Program http://www.mccpta.org/Reflections_Tool_Kit.html Feel free to contact us with questions! Melissa & Chris
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