I hope all of you have had a great start to the new school year with your children and with your PTA.  I am Lisa Richardson, and I am serving as the Area 18 Arts in Education and Environmental Chairman this year.  Part of my responsibilities includes overseeing the Reflections Program and helping judge Reflections entries at the Area level from any independent local units within Area 18, which includes Kennedale ISD.  Please forward this information to  Arts in Education Chairman. 

The theme for this year's Reflections Program is "Together We Can".  The National PTA web site http://www.ptareflections.org/cs/promotion_planning has some very creative ways to help promote the Reflections Program, with downloadable flyers, posters, etc., and I encourage you to check out their web site for ideas to help your PTA promote this wonderful program. 

The Texas PTA web site http://www.txpta.org/programs/reflections/  is definitely a web site you will need to visit in order to obtain the necessary forms that are required for participation in the Reflections Program.  The web site also includes a much broader and more detailed outline of each Reflections category - Dance/Choreography, Film Production, Literature, Musical Composition, Photography, and Visual Arts.  It is also very important that  Arts in Education Chairman read through the General Rules which will help serve as a guide during your Reflections Program.

The deadline date for advancing the top 20% of your Reflections entries to Area 18 has been set for Friday, December 2, 2011.  Once the judging at the Area level is complete, the top 10% will be advanced to the State level prior to their deadline, which is January 18, 2012.  The remainder of the entries that did not advance will be returned to each PTA that submitted the entries.

You may begin your Reflections Program at any time, but be sure to have your judging completed before the end of November, which should then give you plenty of time to deliver your entries for advancement to me by December 2rd.  My contact information is listed below. 

If there are any questions about the Reflections Program, please do not hesitate to contact me.  That's what I am here for and I am very happy to assist all of you with your Reflections Program. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lisa Richardson

Area 18 Arts in Education and Environmental Chairman

lstr@sbcglobal.net