O'Neill Student Receives Award of Merit from National Art Competition

Submitted by Downers Grove Grade School District 58.

Downers Grove Grade School District 58 congratulates O’Neill eighth grader Connor Podjasek for winning an Award of Merit at the National PTA Reflections art competition on May 1.

Only four students from Illinois received an award at the national level.

“Congrats to Connor Podjasek for winning the Award of Merit at the National competition. We’re hoping to see more wonderful projects for Reflections for the 2015-16 school year,” said Hemaxi Mistry, District 58’s PTA Reflections coordinator.

Connor received the Award of Merit in the Photography Category for his photo entry, called “Stop the Clock.” His winning photograph will be featured at the Annual National PTA Convention in Charlotte, N.C., in June; in the Arts Education National Forum in Arlington, Va., in September; and in the U.S. Department of Education’s Student Art Exhibit in January-February 2016.

The PTA Reflections art competition annually invites students nationwide to reflect on a common theme and create original works of art in the categories of dance choreography, film production, literature, music composition, photography and visual arts. This year’s theme was “The World Would Be A Better Place If…”

Last week, the Illinois PTA’s DuPage East Region hosted a PTA Reflection ceremony at Herrick Middle School. The ceremony recognized all local PTA Reflections participants from the region, which includes schools from Downers Grove, Elmhurst, Bensenville, Lombard and Villa Park. An impressive 168 student projects advanced to the Illinois regional competition and 59 projects continued to the Illinois state competition.

Three student projects from the PTA’s DuPage East Region advanced to the national competition, including two from District 58: Connor Podjasek from O’Neill Middle School;Conor Schewe from Henry Puffer School; and Tess Placek from Ardmore School in District 45.

“It was very exciting to see two of our District 58 student projects make their way to Nationals,” Mistry said.

Nearly 300,000 students from across the country, and in American schools overseas, participate annually in the National PTA’s Reflections program. The theme for the 2015-2016 school year will be “Let Your Imagination Fly.” The themes are selected annually through a student theme search contest.

The Reflections program is the National PTA’s cornerstone arts program. It was developed in 1969 by Colorado’s PTA President Mary Lou Anderson to encourage students to explore their talents and express themselves. Since then, the Reflections program has inspired millions of students to reflect on a specific theme and create original artwork. National PTA believes every child deserves a quality arts education. Participation in arts programs like Reflections levels the playing field for underserved students, develops the whole-child, nurtures creativity and teamwork, and connects families and schools to one another and to their communities. Learn more atwww.pta.org/reflections.

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