Students from WCAAD Swept PTA Top Awards

Three students from West California Academy of Art and Design won 2017-18 Temple City District PTA Reflections Awards, including Malanie Zhang K-2nd 1st Place, Allison Lee 3rd -5th 1st Place, Madison Lee 6th-8th 1st Place. Moreover, Melanie’s artwork won 1st Place at the higher District Levels and was submitted to the State Level for further recognition.


The 2017-18 contest theme is Within Reach.
Parent-teacher association (PTA) is a formal organization composed of parents, teachers and staff that is intended to facilitate parental participation in a school. PTA Reflections is a nationally acclaimed student recognition program to encourage artistic creativity in the classroom and at home. Since 1969, over 10 million students across the nation have taken part in this popular PTA program.
Students from West California Academy of Art and Design have a long history in participating the PTA contests, and each year win awards at various levels.  Among these winners, two students won national 1st place and two students won California State 1st Place. Christopher Theung, 7 years old, won 2006-07 National PTA  1st Place  out  of  500,000 competitors; Alice Yang, 13 years old, won 2008-09 National PTA  1st Place out of  500,000 competitors; Cynthia Yang, 11 years old, won 2012-13 California State PTA  1st Place out of 50,000 competitors; Allison Lee, 8 years old, won 2014-15 California State PTA  1st Place out of  50,000 competitors.
The Reflections Program provides an excellent opportunity for students of all ages to unleash their creative talents and be inspired, express themselves imaginatively in their artwork, experience the joy and fun of making art, tap into critical thinking skills to create art inspired by the annual theme, receive positive recognition for their original works of art.
There are six arts categories – dance choreography, film production, literature, music composition, photography and visual arts.  Students of all grades and abilities may participate and explore the arts. Entries are reviewed at local, regional, state and national levels. Entries are judged primarily on how well the student uses his or her artistic vision to portray the theme, originality and creativity.
To allow student artworks to be recognized and judged with the appropriate developmental age and skill levels in mind, the Reflections Program is organized by school grade, offering 5 divisions: Primary – Preschool-Grade 2, Intermediate – Grades 3-5, Middle/Junior – Grades 6-8, Senior – Grades 9-12, Special Artist – Non-Graded
To take part, student Reflections' entries at a school are first recognized, judged and celebrated by the local PTA unit.  Some selected unit entries are then chosen to represent the PTA at the council and district PTA levels.  Student artwork submitted to California State PTA by a district PTA are considered for an Award of Excellence and an Award of Merit.
Each year, 30 students are recognized with a California State PTA Award of Excellence for their artwork and receive prizes.  These Award of Excellence entries, in turn, represent California Sate PTA at the National level of the Reflections Program.  Student recipients of the National PTA Award of Excellence and Award of Merit are recognized at the annual National PTA convention and their artwork is featured as part of the program's traveling, national exhibit.