TALENT ON DISPLAY—Students and their parents watch a video of the winners for dance choreography during Simi Valley PTA Council’s Reflections Awards Night at Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center on Nov. 7. Photos by MICHAEL COONS/Acorn Newspapers
Vista Elementary’s Hari Chintamaneni looks at the medal he received in photography during Simi Valley PTA Council’s Reflections Awards Night at the Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center on Nov. 7 in Simi Valley.
When 9-year-old Emily Metchis of Simi Valley dedicated herself to writing the song “Happy, Longer Than Forever,” she never imagined that her creative endeavor would lead to an award.
Infused with themes of hope and joyful dreams, the song emerged from days of thoughtful composition.
Emily, a third-grader at Vista Elementary, not only secured an award in the music composition category of the Simi Valley PTA Council’s Reflections competition but also earned the opportunity to compete, along with several of her classmates, at the county level and potentially the national stage with her melodic creation.
The Reflections award recognition ceremony, held Nov. 7 at Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center, brought together 76 school winners from across Simi Valley Unified School District. The gathering, featuring an art show, included families and friends of the students plus PTA leaders, school district guests and judges.
Cheers from the audience rang out as each winner was called to the stage to receive their award.
Fifth-grader Sunny Lembke picks up the poem she wrote for Reflections 2023.
Jeannette Deen, chair of the event, said the national PTA Arts in Education program has encouraged students since 1969 to express themselves creatively and gain recognition in six different art categories: visual arts, photography, literature, film production, music composition and dance choreography.
This year’s competition theme was “I am hopeful because….” Some 350 entries were received.
All 76 local winning entries move on to compete against other county entries at the 12th District PTA level in Ventura County. Winners there move on to state and, if they win there, nationals. County winners are announced in December; state winners are revealed in March. The national PTA awards are handed out in May.
Whether or not she wins at a higher level, Emily is enthusiastic about penning her first song.
“I would like to write more,” Emily said at the ceremony, which she attended with her mom, Kristin.
PROUD FAMILY— Laura Bojarski, left, her daughter, Apollo, and mother, Carol Woods, look at the photography winners. Apollo won in the visual arts category for “Breakthrough.”
Winning district awards this year in both photography and literature was 12-year-old Arjun Lal, a seventh-grader at Hillside Middle School.
“I saw a beautiful sunset and tree and was inspired to write a poem called ‘Hope,’ Arjun said about his 2023 literature entry.
Despite his knack for poetry, Arjun said he’s actually more interested in taking photos. His image of light reflecting off the statue of an Indian god certainly impressed the judges.
Dawn Patrikian, council treasurer of Simi Valley PTA, said she wishes all the students the best of luck in the county competition.
“I’m so proud of all the students that entered,” Patrikian said.