By Tiffany Lin | VTV Editor

Many people gathered in the cafeteria on Nov 13 to attend a recognition ceremony for the winners of this year’s PTSA Reflections contest for the theme “Let your imagination fly.” Out of 88 entries, 16 winners moved on to the district level. They will exhibit their work on December 12, and will find out if they will be moving on to the next level of competition.

Courtney Wong, Hsiu Lin, Raymond Pai, and Yeseul Lee won in the visual arts category; Arielle Shnayder, Daniel Ho, Jamie Liao, and Joshua Tse won in the photography category; Victoria Houston and Naveen Thota won in the music composition category;. In literature, the winners were Elsa Joseph, Ping-Ya Chao, and Radhika Munshani. In film production, the winners were Taran Khera and Varun Jagga. Finally, in dance choreography, the winner was Vivienne Chang.

The ceremony in the cafeteria began with Victoria Houston performing “Through My Eyes,” a song that she composed for the competition. Afterwards, there were a few remarks from Melanie Lawert, the president of the Milpitas Photography Club on the importance of having art programs such as the Reflections contest in schools.

“There are kids who are marginalized, and without having art in their schools, they will be out on the streets,”said Lawert. “Having those programs in your schools keeps these kids off the streets and makes them productive members of society.”

After the opening remarks, Smitha Menon, the chair of the Reflections program, announced the 16 winners of the contest. In total, there were 45 submissions in the visual arts category, 33 submissions in the photography category, five submissions in the literature category, two submissions in the music composition category. two submissions in the film production category, and one submission in the dance choreography category.

“It was really wonderful how they created because [art] is a medium for the students to express themselves,” said Menon of this year’s entries. “They can tell the outside world what they are thinking on the inside. It is a great opportunity for students, especially for budding artists, to express themselves, their creativity, their artwork, their talent.”