This year, the National PTSA Reflections Program contest has three contestants that will advance to the county level. The winners are freshman Bridget O’Boyle for photography, junior Elena Botts for literature, and freshman Margaret Lashley for visual arts.

The program recognizes the art and achievement of students by giving opportunities for expression and creativity. Students obtain positive recognition for original works of art, while increasing community awareness on the importance of the arts in our daily lives.

“The PTSA sponsors the Reflections Contest each year,” Molly O’Boyle, a part of the PTSA, said. “It starts at the school level, then goes to the county, the state and national. The contest runs from mid-September to mid-October and entries can be submitted any time during that timeframe.”

The seven categories in which students can take part in are visual arts, photography, literature, musical composition, dance choreography, film production, and special needs.

“My drawing was inspired by our summer house near my grandparents’ house in Maine,” Lashley said. “I really love going there every year, it’s kind of like going back in time because there’s no electricity or running water and no computers, and they have an old typewriter. We go there every year and it’s really nice because I just get to spend some time with my family.”

All of the first place pieces went to the Fairfax County level to be judged by professionals in their fields. They each also received a ribbon and a Starbucks gift card sponsored by the SLHS PTSA.

“I thought that the idea of capturing a moment in one picture was a cool idea,” freshman contestant Raehaneh Torkie-Tork said. “This sounds really cliché but ‘a picture worth a thousand words’ is actually really true because you could take one picture, one really good picture, and it represents a whole weekend that you’ve spent at one place.”