A 40-year-old Palm Beach County Council of PTA/PTSA initiative geared towards enabling students to explore their artistic talents and receive positive recognition for their efforts has announced the latest batch of entries that will compete statewide.

The PTA Reflections Program challenged students to create an original piece inspired by a specific theme. The 2011-2012 theme was “Diversity Means…”

Students in four grade divisions — primary, intermediate, middle/junior and senior — submitted works in six areas: dance choreography, film production,

literature, musical composition, photography, and visual arts. 

The contest this year attracted entries from nearly 1,700 students from around the county in all grade divisions.

Of those, 180 entries were sent on to council for further judging and, of those, 50 advanced to the next level of judging by the Florida PTA.

The final 50 entries came from the following:


Visual Arts: Camila Pantin (Omni Middle), Sofia Morihelli (Omni Middle), Sarah Palumbo (Eagles Landing), Kenneth Nguyen (Waters Edge), Justin Backman (Citrus Cove), Brendan Neaubien (Panther Run, Graysor Backman (Citrus Cove), Zachary Waters (Del Prado), Kira Mackey (Waters Edge)


Photography: Abby Hanapole (Omni Middle), Valentina Zurita (Omni Middle), Justin Mazor (Eagles Landing), Stavros Georgaras (Sandpiper Shores), John

Visconti (Waters Edge), Cullan Miller (Del Prado), Matthew Dugin (Waters Edge), Tayla Givoni (Del Prado), Max Reichstein (Waters Edge)


Dance: Tylor Lipsich (Omni Middle), Sarah Palumbo (Eagles Landing), Ashley Kirse (Waters Edge), Samantha Kirse(Waters Edge), Dara Berenson(Del Prado), Tayla Givoni (Del Prado)


Film: Evan Fellman (Omni Middle, Alec Lubin (Del Prado), Nicolas Atallah (Citrus Cove), Sabrina Levin (Waters Edge), Ethan Lubin (Del Prado), Chole Kozakoff (Coral Sunset)


Music: Sandon Chevlin (Spanish River), Justin Mignatti(Omni Middle), Charles Comiter (Omni Middle), Sarah Palumbo (Eagles Landing), Sanjana Chandran (Waters Edge), Alec Lubin(Del Prado), Marlowe Hyman (Coral Sunset), Ethan Becker (Waters Edge), Kristen Garcia (Del Prado) ESE Class (Waters Edge)


Literature: Andrew Balsamo (Omni Middle), Alexander Ellman (Eagles Landing), Jacqueline Faustin (Eagles Landing), Vraj Patel (Del Prado), Manas Mahajan (Del Prado),  Jose Ruiz (Sandpiper Shores), Jesse Polsky (Waters Edge), Lily Rosenthal (Waters Edge), Mason Aronowitz (Citrus Cove)

All students whose works were submitted to the council will be recognized at an awards ceremony hosted by Palm Beach County Council of PTA/PTSA in the spring. 


For more information please call the Palm Beach County PTA/PTSA President Jennifer Martinez at 561-254-9513.