This year’s Reflections theme is all about goals. It is a wide-open opportunity for discovery, not only for the artist but for the observer as well. Do you know what your artist strives to achieve? Encourage your students to create a masterpiece with their goals in mind and let their work of art evolve into something you never knew about them.

This year’s Reflections theme is Within Reach. Students can use the talents they have or discover new ones to create an inspiring display of visual art, photography, write an epic poem, story or song or even write an original piece of music.

Some ideas to share with students as they begin the creative process:

v Don't be critical of how it starts out - it doesn't have to be perfect.

v Don't worry about grammar or punctuation at first - just begin.

v Believe in yourself - you can do this!

v You don't have to take an art course to paint a picture - go for it!

v Use positive words to help them realize they have potential!

v Share the thought process of revision - when we revise something we create and then revise it again and again, it usually gets better and better!

v Everyone has talent - it is fun trying to do things you've never done before and finding what we like to do and what we are good at!

Remember, if your talent is unusual (maybe you're good at fixing things), you could write a story about it or take a picture. Have your students share their goal with the judges about why they created their entry for Reflections and put it on the entry form as the artist's statement. The artist’s statement is extremely important and is the primary driving factor behind a judge’s decision.

I’m looking forward to working with each RRISD school and I can’t wait to see what goals our students have.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

LeAnne Ohlenburger

Reflections Chairperson

RRISD Council of PTAs

leanne@ohlenburger.com