By Lori BODNAR

“I Will Change the World By…” is the national Parent Teacher Association (PTA) Reflections theme for the 2021-22 school year. The annual theme is created by a student and selected two years in advance. Lydia Keel from Spanish Fork Junior High School in Utah submitted year’s theme.

PTA Reflections is an arts education program to provide recognition and access to the arts, helping boost student confidence in the arts and in life. The Reflections program encourages students to explore the arts and gives them a way to express themselves.

The program welcomes students of all ages and abilities to explore their inner artist. The Reflections program has been inspiring and encouraging student artists for over 50 years.

According to its website, nationwide over 300,000 students create original works of art each year to submit artistic entries inspired by a different student-created theme for the annual arts recognition program. Students work independently to explore their own creative ideas and develop artistic literacy.

The six arts categories for submissions include dance choreography, film production, literature, music composition, photography and visual arts. Students may submit artistic works in one or more of the categories, and more than one creative artwork per category.

The divisions by grade are primary (TK to grade 2), intermediate (grades 3-5), middle school (grades 6-8), and high school (grades 9-12). Students with disabilities may enter in the special artist division or the grade division most closely aligned to their abilities.

Mountain Avenue Elementary School hosted a PTA Reflections workshop earlier in September to better inform students and parents about the program and give them the opportunity to ask questions. Students could also brainstorm ideas for their art projects. The workshop was led by parent volunteers Bo Kim and Amy Jo Rhine, who are the co-chairs for the Mountain Avenue PTA Reflections program.

At the workshop, Rhine and Kim encouraged the students to reflect on the theme for this year and ponder how they will change the world.

The students responded by saying they would change the world by their voice, their drawings, their literature writings, music, kindness, creativity, helping others including the homeless, sharing, making everyone count, being kind to animals, or even becoming the nation’s President in order to change the world.

The Mountain Avenue Elementary School deadline to turn in Reflections program projects inspired by this year’s theme is Friday, Oct. 8. For more details, email Rhine and Kim at reflections.mountain@gmail.com. All students TK-12 can check with their local school or PTA chapter for deadlines and submission information for the national program.