Sixth District

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California Sixth District PTA
Santa Clara County, California
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Calendar, Pointers, & Reminders
for the Reflections Chairperson

Fliers, rules, forms, etc. -- click here.

Age Groups
 
Arts Areas
 
Theme
•
 Primary
P thru 2
•
 Intermediate
3 thru 5
•
 Junior
6 thru 8
•
 Senior
9 thru 12
 
•
 Literature
•
 Musical Composition
•
 Photography
•
 Visual Arts
•
 Dance Choreography
•
 Film/Video Production
 
This year (2008-2009):
"Wow!"
Past & Future years:
see below for contest info!


Reflections Calendar
First day of school Have catchy posters ready at prominent places in the school campus.
Week After Labor Day

Elementary schools: Send flier home with info about the Theme, the six Arts Areas, the four age groups, & the deadline for entries. Emphasize the importance of completing the entry form correctly -- incomplete ones are unceremoniously disqualified at higher levels. You may use the same flier as a poster, & display it at school.

 

All schools: Have General Rules, Arts Area Rules, & Entry Forms available (100 of each will probably be enough) at the school office.
Judges Line up judges (3 per arts area, to ensure that each entry is judged by 3 different judges) tentatively. College professors, people in the community, music teachers, etc., work very well.
Mid-October Suggested deadline for students to submit entries to Units.
Once Entries Come In
•
 Record each entry by category and age group. Click here for a form.
•
 Create a code name for each entry, so that judging is blind. (E.g., PV1 is Primary Visual Arts entry #1.)
•
 When this is done, make sure that you have your judges lined up, & set a day aside for judging.
•
 Put up visual arts & photography entries, by arts area, in your school auditorium. Have code number next to artwork. Be sure to hide participant’s info, but display the artist’s statement.
To prepare for judging
•
 E-mail judges in advance to apprise them of the rules, or send them a sample judging sheet. (Print one here or create your own.)
•
 Folder with pencil and eraser for each judge.
•
 Give each judge a judging sheet for each entry. E.g., if there are 10 Primary Visual Arts entries, each of the three Visual Arts judges will have 10 sheets numbered PV1, PV2, ….
•
 Go over rules before asking them to see the entries. Interpretation of theme is extremely important, more than mere technical skill.
•
 Consider if adult help is obvious in an entry, in theme or execution. These must be disqualified discreetly.
•
 Judging is an intense and painstaking job. Have snacks, thank-you cards made by students, or thank-you certificates for each judge for all their time and energy. You might consider keeping the entire day free for judging. You don't have to judge all categories on the same day. Some categories (e.g., literature) may not even need a "judging day".
•
 You might sometimes need to have the Principal or some neutral person act as tie-breaker.
Suggested List of Things
to Bring on Judging Day
•
 Boom box, for soothing music, for the judges & for you.
•
 Judges' folders with judging sheets/forms.
•
 Extra judging sheets (very important).
•
 "Thank you" certificates & cards.
•
 Water / juice / soda / cups.
•
 Crackers / dip / cookies / fruit.
•
 Plates / napkins / forks / spoons.
•
 Camera.
•
 A book to read.
•
 Reflections binder with tabulation sheets.
•
 Sharpened pencils and erasers for judges.
After Judges Leave
•
 On the Judging Summary Form, calculate the total points for each entry, & determine which entries go to the next level. (E.g., your Council might want each Unit to send the top 5 entries in each arts area for each age group.)
•
 Take down the entries that go to the next level, and replace the entry forms into protective sheets.
•
 Ensure that EVERY criterion of the entry form has been met.
•
 Fill in ALL info in the correct "Form A" before submitting to the next level, where the entire process is repeated, but for multiple schools.
Late Oct / Early Nov Suggested deadline for In-Council Units to deliver winning entries to Council. The deadline, and the number of winning entries you can submit in each arts area for each age group, are determined by your Council.

If your Council is not doing Reflections judging, please follow procedure for Out-of-Council Units, & submit directly to Sixth District by Fri Dec 7.
After sending Entries to Next Level
•
 Thank all the participants! E.g., you might distribute a flyer with the names of all participants, the names & arts areas of the children who made it to the next level, a "thank you" to your judges, next year’s theme, & the tentative date of return of all entries.
•
 In a prominent place at school, display a poster with results & next year’s theme.
November to Early Dec. Process repeats in Councils, with winning entries from multiple schools.
Friday, December 5 DEADLINE for Councils & Out-of-Council Units to deliver winning entries to Sixth District Office (or other agreed location).

Each Unit submitting directly to Sixth District may submit two entries per arts area for each age group. Each Council may submit five winning entries per arts area for each age group.
December to Mid-January Process repeats in Districts, with winning entries from multiple Councils & from Out-of-Council Units.
January to Late February

Process repeats in States, etc., up to national-level judging in Washington, DC.
March
By this time all entries should be back to your Unit. It's time to celebrate! Here are some ways to do that:
Councils Have a Reflections Night with all literature entries printed, a slide show of all visual arts & photography, screening of all film/video works, & students performing their music & dance compositions!
Elementary schools Have a Reflections Assembly with entries displayed & played; hand out certificates, ribbons & prizes to 1st & 2nd-place winners;
OR go from class to class, with Principal in tow, & hand out certificates, ribbons & prizes. This works very well!
Secondary
schools 		Certificates & pizza parties seem to be popular.
April 30 thru May 3, 2009 State PTA Convention, right here in San José!!
mid-May Sixth District PTA Reflections Reception, San José
June 26 thru 29, 2009 National PTA Convention, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Finally! Most of all, give yourself a pat on the back for helping children appreciate the arts!



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California Sixth District PTA
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Phone 408-453-6536 * FAX 408-453-6768 

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