D15 artists receive state and national recognition
One of Illinois' 23 entries for judging at the National Awards and Recognition level of the 2011–12 PTA Reflections art program will be from a District 15 student.
Kirsten Juskiewicz, a seventh grader at Walter R. Sundling Junior High, will advance to the national level of judging for her film titled Originality.
In addition to the 23 entries they selected for judging at the national level, state judges also recognized 87 of the hundreds of submissions they judged with Honorable Mention awards. Four of those awards were given to the following District 15 students:
• Zen Wang, a first grader at Pleasant Hill School, for his dance titled My Super Golden Dragon Dance
• Edward Nieman, a second grader at Gray M. Sanborn School, for his photo titled Pumpkin Power
• Lily Fell, a second grader at Stuart R. Paddock School, for her photo titled Diversity Means Colorful
• Aidan Busch, a seventh grader at Walter R. Sundling Junior High, for his photo titled Looking at the Familiar with a Different Perspective
Reflections is a national PTA program that asks students to create works of art based on an annual theme. This year's theme was “Diversity Means,” and students created works of art to reflect that theme in six different categories: visual arts, photography, musical composition, literature, dance choreography, and film/video production.
The program has several levels. Judging first took place within individual schools' PTAs, and then within the Northwest Suburban Council of PTA/PTSA, which represents District 15. It then advanced to the regional level, where Illinois PTA District 37 reviewed nearly 1,500 projects, and awarded 23 of its 66 awards to District 15 students. Those works of art were then judged in the state Reflections program in February, where Kirsten's work was chosen to advance to nationals.
Judging at the national level will take place in May. Entries that reach the national level of judging receive one of four levels of recognition:
• Honorable Mention
• Award of Merit
• Award of Excellence
• Outstanding Interpretation Award
The national PTA organization gives up to five Awards of Merit and three Awards of Excellence in each grade division of each arts area. Six Outstanding Interpretation Award recipients—one from each arts area—are chosen from among all the Award of Excellence recipients. The Outstanding Interpretation Awards recognize the most creative interpretation of the theme in each of the arts areas, regardless of grade division.
All students whose entries reach the national level of judging will receive a letter of congratulations and are considered Honorable Mentions.
-Story Submitted by Community Consolidated School District 15