PLEASANT VALLEY seventh grader Veronica Burch is shown here with her acrylic art piece titled Growing with Perseverance. Photo courtesy of Battle Ground Public Schools
LILY BENNETT, a third grader at Pleasant Valley, is shown here with her painting titled Lily Land. Photo courtesy of Battle Ground Public Schools
PLEASANT VALLEY fifth grader Courtney Beyer is shown here with her acrylic art piece titled Seeing the Beauty. Photo courtesy of Battle Ground Public Schools
Pleasant Valley students Courtney Beyer, Veronica Burch and Lily Bennett have been selected to represent the Pleasant Valley PTA at the state competition for the National PTA Reflections program.
The Reflections program is America’s oldest and largest arts education program of its kind and is a cultural-arts opportunity where students can enter artwork in six categories: visual arts, photography, music, dance, literature and film. The Pleasant Valley PTA has sponsored the program locally with afterschool workshop sessions and art education.
Beyer, a fifth grader, submitted an acrylic piece titled Seeing the Beauty, Burch, a seventh grader, submitted an acrylic piece titled Growing with Perseverance and Bennett, a third grader, submitted a painting titled Lily Land. The students’ artwork had to reflect the 2013-2014 Reflections theme – Believe, Dream, Inspire – and each piece was accompanied by an artistic statement of no more than 100 words.
Pleasant Valley Reflections Chair Kirsten Benko supports the students by guiding the development of the final completed projects and submits them to the state.
“This is a completely volunteer afterschool arts program,” Benko said. “We encourage the students to be actively involved in art and we help those who want to submit their pieces to the competition.”
The students’ art will compete at the state level and winners will advance to the national competition where they will be eligible for scholarships, cash and prizes. This is the third year students from the Pleasant Valley campus have participated at the state level.
“We are so proud of our representatives and wish them the best of luck in their state competition,” Benko said.
