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The Arts are being celebrated this month in Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) as March is Youth Art Month and Music In Our Schools Month®. For the Alexandria City PTA Council (PTAC) Art Reflections program, it has been a fulfilling year.
More than 61 students placed first (outstanding) at their local schools in entries submitted to PTAC this year for the 2021-22 theme “I Will Change the World By…” Entries represented all arts categories, from visual arts to literature, music composition, photography, film production and dance choreography. From there, 21 students placed first at the city level, progressing to the regional PTA Reflections competition, where three ACPS students placed first and will advance to the Virginia PTA Reflections competition. They are Sylvianne Dalton from Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School (photography), Matthew Feldman from Lyles-Crouch Traditional Academy (visual arts) and Raya Yellin from Douglas MacArthur Elementary School (literature).
“We are incredibly awed by the strong turnout this year during such an incredibly challenging time and so proud by everyone’s accomplishments and progress,” said PTAC Reflections Chair Laura Martino. “We wish to thank all our parents, students, judges and local school chairs and their PTAs for all their support.”
While the importance of the Arts and Music in our schools may be brought to the forefront during the month of March, students benefit from these programs all year long. The Council for Art Education suggests that the Arts and Music help students tap into their creativity while enhancing their powers of observation, problem solving and communication.
ACPS has developed a video featuring student art that is part of the PTAC Art Reflections program.