Once again, Rep. Ross Hunter of the 48th Legislative District has selected student artwork to decorate his office in Olympia. This year, the artwork comes from the Lake Washington School District (LWSD) area of his legislative district.

“They look awesome! Ross is penning personal thank you notes this week,” wrote Marilyn Pederson, Rep. Hunter’s executive legislative assistant.

The artwork is part of PTA’s Reflections Art Program. This year’s theme was, “The magic of a moment…” The purpose of the program is to provide an opportunity for students to create original works of art while interpreting the annual theme in any of the following categories: literature, music composition, photography, visual arts, film/video and choreography/dance.

Students submit their entries to their school’s PTA Reflections Program, whose finalists advance to the Lake Washington PTSA Council, then on to Washington State PTA and finally to National PTA.

This year’s Lake Washington PTSA Council Reflections Chair Allison Grassi received more than 500 entries from the PTAs in the district. She was helped by local school PTA Reflections chairs to host the annual Lake Washington PTSA Council Reflections Open House on Jan. 11 at the Lake Washington School District Resource Center in Redmond.

ArtsEd Washington.org notes, “Learning in and through the arts supports an understanding across multiple academic disciplines, supporting overall school engagement. The arts nurture the critical thinking and complex problem solving that are essential in fostering a deeper understanding by applying knowledge, and making meaning of the material, rather than just memorizing.”

ArtsEd Washington and Washington State PTA have partnered to create an advocacy tool, smARTS for Students. This resource is designed to help parents and families advocate to improve their child’s education by increasing the provision of the arts in their school.