START WORKING ON THE  2026-2027 REFELCTIONS THEME..........What My Culture Means to Me," 

 Important Dates

Sept 28 - Reflections kick-off

Dec. 7- Artwork due - in your school office by 9 AM

Mid Dec. - Judging

Jan.  20 - Reception at APCA for participating students and families; announcement of students continuing to the Michigan PTA Reflections program/PTSA Contacts

• Allen Park PTA/PTSA Council: Nicole Sobieski (email)

Forms and Rules - Read or Download PDF files 

• General rules and how to enter  

IMPORTANT!

• All entries must be the original artwork of one student.

• Students may enter in more than one art category, but are limited to only 1 entry per category.

• The student's full name must NOT appear in the art (not in a story, not in film credits, not in a drawing) to avoid bias in judging. 

• Do not use copyrighted materials in artwork

• A consent form is needed if your entry (regardless of category) contains an image of another person or another person performed in your music, dance, or film entry.  Have the other person print and sign this form.

Accessible Arts Division

Students with disabilities may participate in the National PTA Reflections program in one of two ways.

Option 1: The Accessible Arts Division is an optional division  of the Reflections Program, accepting students in all grades, for students whose physical, cognitive or mental health challenges meet guidelines set forth in the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Option 2: Students who qualify for the Accessible Arts Division may choose instead to enter in one of the traditional four grade divisions. In this case, students follow all general rules and arts category rules but may submit their entries in the grade division most closely aligned to their cognitive or functional abilities. These students are recognized and awarded as part of the general student population, without regard to special needs or challenges.

The Accessible Arts Division welcomes all grades and all abilities and offers non-artistic accommodations (e.g. adaptive technology; transcribing; holding a camera) for students to participate fully in PTA Reflections.  Students' assistants must refrain from being involved in the artistic process (e.g. developing an artist statement, choreography, music lyrics, storyboards, etc.  Student recognition and awards are announced as part of the Accessible Arts Division.

Artwork Submission 

Submit artwork your school's office by 9:00 AM, Monday, December 7, 2026.

Step 1. Download and fill in the Entry Form  including artist's statement.   Print the form and sign it (student and adult).    

Step 2.  Label artwork on the back only with the student's name.  The student's name must not appear in the art itself. 

Step 3. Consent Form  If your entry (regardless of category) contains an image of another person or another person performed in your music, dance, or film entry, you need to submit a consent form from that other person.  Click on this link for a consent form... https://drive.google.com/file/d/1h2SOjK5BxRZQXIZgl9H0zKYT7WGNwXJK/view?usp=sharing   Ask the other person to print and sign the completed consent form. 

Step 4.  Submit artwork and Entry Form (and consent form, if needed) to your school's office by 9:00 AM, Monday, December 7, 2026.

Brief rules for each category with acceptable file formats

Students must participate through a local PTA/PTSA in good standing and may enter in one or more arts categories. Only new pieces of artwork inspired by the theme may be submitted. Each entry must be the original work of one student only. 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. Use of copyrighted material is prohibited, except for background music in dance choreography and film production entries when cited. Entries will be judged on how well the student uses his or her artistic vision to portray the theme, originality and creativity.  Label the CD/DVD/flash drive and the back of the music notation with the title of work, arts category, and division (no name).  Label back of printed entry or entry packaging with student name, title of artwork, arts category and division.

Dance Choreography: Solo and ensemble works of all dance styles are accepted. Entrant must be the choreographer and may also be the performer, or one of the performers. If background music is used, cite it on the entry form. Video file must not exceed 5 min. and 1 GB in size. Accepted formats: AVI, MOV, MP4.  

 Film Production: Accepted short film styles include: Animation, narrative, documentary, experimental or multi-media presentation. Use of PowerPoint is prohibited. Entrant must be the screenwriter, cinematographer, editor and producer. If background music is used, cite it on the entry form. Use of copyrighted material is prohibited except for incidental use (see complete rules). Do not include the entrants names in the opening or closing credits.  Video file must not exceed 5 min. and 1 GB (1000 Mb) in size. Accepted formats: MP4, AVI,  MOV.  

 Literature: Accepted forms of fiction and nonfiction include: Prose, poetry, reflective essay, screen play and play script, narrative, and short story. Entrants may write in their primary language as long as an interpretive English translation is also attached. Use of copyrighted material is prohibited. Entry must not exceed 2,000 words and may be handwritten or typed on 8.5x11" paper. Number each page.  No illustrations, no books.  Accepted formats: scanned or saved as a PDF file.

 Music Composition: All music styles and combinations of instrumentation are accepted. Entrant must be the composer and may also be the performer, or one of the performers. Use of copyrighted material is prohibited. Audio file must not exceed 5 min. and 1 GB in size. Audio files only, not video.  Accepted formats: MP3, WAV. Notation (score/tabulature) in PDF format is only required for middle and high school divisions.  MS and HS entrants may substitute a written reflective statement that provides a musically technical explanation of how the music was created for the musical score.  

 Photography: Photo must be a single print/digital image. Collages and collections of photos are not accepted. Entrant must be the photographer and may use a variety of digital editing techniques including but not limited to, multiple exposure, negative sandwich and photogram. Use of copyrighted material is prohibited except for incidental use (see complete rules).  Print image dimensions must be no smaller than 3x5 inches and no larger than 8x10 inches. Accepted print formats: Mounted on sturdy material no larger than 11x14 inches. Framed prints are not accepted.  Also submit original digital image with dimensions at least 640x960 (pixels) and 300 dpi (resolution). Accepted file formats: JPEG, JPG, PNG.

 Visual Arts: Works of both fine and design arts are accepted, including but not limited to: architectural drawing and models, ceramics, collage, computer generated images and graphics, crafts, drawing, fashion clothes and jewelry, fiber work, mixed media, painting, printmaking and sculpture. Use of copyrighted material is prohibited except for incidental use (see complete rules).  Original 2D artwork must be mounted on sturdy material and no larger than 24x30 inches with matting. Framed entries are not accepted.  3D artwork submissions must also contain 3 digital images of artwork at different angles. Image(s) are used for artwork identification, judging and exhibition purposes.   Accepted file formats: JPEG, JPG, PNG.