Jared Fadel had always thought about becoming a filmmaker, but he wasn't sure if that was a realistic goal.
But that all changed when he won a national first-place award for a film he made as part of the PTA's annual Reflections competition last school year. Fadel, then a senior at Bountiful High, created a 4-minute video about two of his favorite activities: parkour and free running which, respectively, entail efficiently getting from one place to another, and moving creatively. Participants jump off buildings, run up walls and/or do flips off obstacles.
"This has been a life-changing experience, to know how far it's gone and the success I can have with it," said Fadel, who's now serious about becoming a filmmaker and is a student at Salt Lake Community College. "It wasn't just something I enjoyed doing. It was something I could actually do for a living."
Each year, thousands of Utah students enter the PTA's nationwide Reflections contest, earning national, state, regional, council and school-level awards. Now in its 40th year, educators and PTA leaders call the contest an important opportunity for students to express themselves artistically, especially in this age of school arts programs diminishing because of funding challenges and increased testing demands.
Valerie Shaw, principal at Alta View Elementary in Sandy, said her school doesn't have the money for an art teacher, but her students create about 200 pieces for the Reflections
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contest each year. Statewide, students submitted more than 5,000 entries last school year. Schools with PTAs in good standing may participate.
"It's great," Shaw said. "It encourages students to explore artistic and creative interests they otherwise would not without having a contest or opportunity like Reflections."
The vast majority of students don't make it as far as Fadel, but each year hundreds of Utah students win school-level awards, broken down by age group and categories: film and video production, dance choreography, literature, musical composition, photography, visual arts, theater and three-dimensional art. They create projects that reflect a national theme. Last year's theme was "Wow!" and this year's theme is "Beauty is ..." Next year's theme will be "Together we can ..."
Many students win engraved trophies, medals or ribbons paid for with money from PTA membership dues and fundraisers.
"It gives children an opportunity to be recognized who normally are not recognized in other aspects of education and sports," said Marcie Carter, individual development commissioner for the Utah PTA.
Kate Birch, whose children go to Bonneville Elementary in Salt Lake City, said Reflections has given her children a chance to shine. She said her 10-year-old son is not the best reader, but he's won several awards for works he has entered in the contest.
"It makes him feel he's really talented," Birch said.
Last year, he won first place for his age group at the school in the visual arts category for a picture he created of a circus scene. This year, he won first place again in visual arts for his age group for a drawing of himself balancing a branch on his nose. He drew a hair dryer, a chess piece, a book, a bird and other objects hanging from the branch to depict beauty, this year's contest theme.
"I just sort of wanted to do something abstract," Noah Birch said.
Teresa Glenn said she believes Reflections has taught her granddaughter patience and the value of hard work. Glenn's granddaughter Lexi Glenn, 10, won a school award for her age group this year for a slideshow she created by taking photos of animals at the Hogle Zoo.
She sought to show that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, that even zoo animals such as camels and monkeys can be beautiful when photographed the right way. Lexi said the project has inspired her to become an artist.
"It really opened her eyes," Teresa Glenn said. "When she was taking these photographs she knew she just had to wait until she got the perfect shot."
Lexi, along with hundreds of other Utah school winners, will learn by the first week in January whether they won council awards. Those winners will know by the first week of February whether they won regional awards. Those regional winners find out by the first week of March if they've won state awards. And state winners will likely learn in April if, like Fadel, they've won national awards.
Utah has had several national winners in recent years.
But at least one local school winner, Noah's little sister, says she'll be OK even if she doesn't win more awards. She said the contest has taught her to be a good sport. Though she won school awards this year for her age group for visual arts and literature, she also knows what it's like not to win anything except a project to take home to show her family.
"You don't need to be sad for yourself if you didn't win," said Rebecca Birch, 7. "You can be happy for your friends that did win."
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