Local students come up big in PTA’s Reflections contest

The New York State PTA recently announced 48 Nassau County winners in its annual statewide Reflections arts competition, and 10 –– count ’em, 10 –– were from Bellmore and Merrick. Of those, three took home the contest’s highest honor, the Award of Excellence.

Top winners included Julia Losner of Old Mill Road Elementary School in North Merrick, Amanda Welk of Merrick Avenue Middle School in Merrick and Julianna Brogan of Gunther Elementary School in Bellmore. The three students will now move on to the national Reflections competition.

Reflections is an annual program sponsored by the National PTA that gives students the chance to express their artistic talents by creating original works. Begun in 1969, the program is open to children from preschool through 12th grade.

“It’s a wonderful and exciting program,” said Judy Van Haaren, the Nassau Region PTA director and a graduate of Calhoun High School in North Merrick. “These kids work hard. The teachers should get credit for it, too, because they encourage their students.”

PTA volunteers organize the program, Van Haaren explained. Each year they select a theme, which students are asked to interpret in the genres of choreography, film production, literature, music, photography and visual arts. The theme for the 2010-11 competition was “Together We Can …”

Judges selected by the PTA evaluate the entries. According to Van Haaren, local professionals, including teachers, dance instructors and business owners, act as judges. “It’s a wide variety of judges,” she said.

The competition is divided into four groups: primary (preschool to second grade), intermediate (grades three to five), middle/junior (grades six to eight) and senior (grades nine to 12). The Nassau County PTA chooses more than 100 finalists, with a limited number receiving Awards of Merit and the Award of Excellence. Welk won the Award of Excellence for film production, while Losner and Brogan each received the honor for literature.