Winners of the City Reflections Competition Announced

The winners from this year’s Alexandria City PTA Reflections competition who will go on to compete in Northern Virginia were announced this week. Twenty-two of the entries by ACPS students won first place awards in the citywide contest and are now competing at the district level against student’s in Fairfax, Arlington and Falls Church. After district results are announced at the end of January, Northern Virginia’s first place winners will advance to the state competition.

Students at thirteen schools across the city choreographed dances, made films, wrote poems and stories, composed music, took photographs, and created visual art, all based on this year’s contest theme, “Within Reach.” Students produce artwork in one or more of the following categories: dance choreography, film production, literature, music composition, photography, or visual arts. The entries are evaluated based on three criteria: creativity, technique and interpretation of the contest theme by judges who are experts in the arts categories they’re judging.

Alexandria’s winners will be celebrated the evening of March 16 at the Alexandria Reflections Awards Program and Art Show Opening at the Durant Arts Center. The event is free and open to the public. An art show of the works will be open through mid-May.

black and white photo of two sets of feet in shoes: one set of a child and one set of an adult

Learning To Walk in Heels, by Lillian Morton, grade12, TC Williams – 1st Place, Photography, High School

Lillian Morton, a senior at T.C. Williams, won 1st Place in the city’s High School Photography division. She described her work as a visual representation of the transition from child to adult: “The distance to the floor from one’s chair is just within reach as children. Once we grow up, we reach for bigger things. We can comfortably rest our feet on the floor and stride forward in our lives…. As we reach for the transition to adulthood, we must bridge the gap and learn how to walk in heels.”

Nora Beekman Reflections Contest Performance

“I’ve Been Waiting,” by Nora Beekman, Third grade, Mount Vernon Community School – Music Composition: First Place

Mount Vernon Community School third-grader Nora Beekman won 1st Place in the Intermediate Division for Music Composition for her song, “I’ve Been Waiting.” In her Artist’s Statement, she explains, “The person in my song has hope that is within reach, and it’s also about somebody who’s not afraid.”

Las Patronas, by Claudia Martino, grade8, George Washington MS - 1st Place, Middle School

Las Patronas, by Claudia Martino, grade8, George Washington MS – Visual Arts: First Place, Middle School

Eighth-grader Claudia Martino’s won 1st Place in Visual Arts, Middle School, for her painting, “Las Patronas,” which shows a woman handing a bag of food to a man leaning out from the door of a train. The idea for the George Washington Middle School student’s entry came from a CNN report about a group of women in Mexico who bring food each day to Central American migrants on their way to the United States. “The theme ‘Within Reach,’” she says, “made me remember how by reaching out with food, this group saves hundreds of lives.”

Alexandria PTA Reflections Winners

Dance Choreography

Primary (K-grade 2)

First Place – Sophia Marcy, First grade, Douglas MacArthur Elementary School, “Don’t Stop Believing”
Second Place – Amir Frasier, Second grade, Mount Vernon Community School, “Fight Hate”

Intermediate (grades 3-5)

First Place – George Guryan, Third grade, Mount Vernon Community School, “Part of Me”
Second Place – Jennifer Adu-Wadier, Fourth grade, James Polk Elementary School, “Within Reach for Contortion”
Third Place – Ava Marcy, Fifth grade, Douglas MacArthur Elementary School, “A Dream Is a Wish”

Middle School (grades 6-8)

First Place – Peyton Marcy, Seventh grade, George Washington Middle School, “Something Just Like This”

Film Production

Primary (K-grade 2)

First Place – Atanas Janevski, Second grade, Mount Vernon Community School “Looking for a Hero (Training for Halloween)”

Intermediate (grades 3-5)

First Place – Alex Eissenstat, Fifth grade, Mount Vernon Community School, “Can’t Quite Reach the Pizza”
Second Place – Marisa Vidal, Fifth grade, James K. Polk Elementary School, “Within Reach”
Third Place (tie) – Wesley Anderson, Third grade, Matthew Maury Elementary School, “Within Reach”
Third Place (tie) – Daniel Dawit, Fifth grade, John Adams Elementary School, “Reach Out”

Middle School (grades 6-8)

First Place – Eliza Gwin, Sixth grade, George Washington MS, “When He’s Within Reach”
Second Place – Amanda Johnson, Sixth grade, Jefferson-Houston School, “The Great Almost-Catch”

Literature

Primary (K-grade 2)

First Place – Saha Irwin, Second grade, Jefferson-Houston School, “A Walk Around the World”
Second Place – Molly Payne, Second grade, Charles Barrett Elementary School, “Beautiful Dreams”
Third Place – Amelia Parks, Second grade, Douglas MacArthur Elementary School, “I Believe In My Dreams”
Honorable Mention – Shayne Suslowitz, First grade, James K. Polk Elementary School, “The Band Cats”

Intermediate (grades 3-5)

First Place – Lucy Hunnicutt, Third grade, John Adams Elementary School, “Within Reach”
Second Place – Samantha Brayman, Fifth grade, Charles Barrett Elementary School, “Dreams are Nigh”
Third Place – Jack Sibbald, Fifth grade, Douglas MacArthur Elementary School, “The Future”

Honorable Mention – Caroline Osinski, Fourth grade, George Mason Elementary School, “Within Reach”

Middle School (grades 6-8)

First Place – Eliza Gwin, Sixth grade, George Washington Middle School “Within Reach”
Second Place – Lillian Try, Sixth grade, Jefferson-Houston School, “Ball In My Glove”

High School (grades 9-12)

First Place – Frealem Bekele, Tenth grade, T.C. Williams High School, “Destiny Within Reach”

Music Composition

Primary (K-grade 2)

First Place – Mariana Carpio, First grade, Mount Vernon Community School, “Mount Vernon Safety”

Intermediate (grades 3-5)

First Place – Nora Beekman, Third grade, Mount Vernon Community School, “I’ve Been Waiting”
Second Place – Noah Sternberg, Fifth grade, Douglas MacArthur Elementary School, “Balancing Act”
Third Place – Brooke Hunnicutt, Third grade, John Adams Elementary School, “The High Note Jam”
Director’s Award – Julia Gwin, Fourth grade, Matthew Maury Elementary School, “Girls With a Goal”

Middle School (grades 6-8)

First Place – Eliana Rougle, Sixth grade, Francis Hammond Middle School, “Reaching for the Stars”

High School (grades 9-12)

First Place – Jonathan Morgan Petrini, Tenth grade, T.C. Williams High School, “Reaching”

Photography

Primary (K-grade 2)

First Place – Saha Irwin, Second grade, Jefferson-Houston School, “Looking Through Twins”
Second Place – Gavin Zwiselsberger, Second grade, Charles Barrett Elementary School, “Columns of UVA”
Third Place – Mary Blue Pohjola, First grade, Douglas MacArthur Elementary School, “Sunset on the Potomac”
Director’s Award – Maynor Martinez, Second grade, Mount Vernon Community School, “Camera”

Intermediate (grades 3-5)

First Place – Adelaide Flint, Fourth grade, George Mason Elementary School, “Stronger”
Second Place – Jack Sibbald, Fifth grade, Douglas MacArthur Elementary School, “The New Tech”
Third Place (tie) – John Robert Jones, Fifth grade, James K. Polk Elementary School, “A Welcome Change”
Third Place (tie) – Victoria Patrick, Fifth grade, Charles Barrett Elementary School, “Photographer”
Honorable Mention – Lucy Hunnicutt, Third grade, John Adams Elementary School, “Only Across the Basin”
Honorable Mention – Marin Kahl, Fifth grade, Matthew Maury Elementary School, “To the Sky”
Honorable Mention – Sophia Zabel, Fourth grade, Mount Vernon Community School, “Blue Corn Flower”

Middle School (grades 6-8)

First Place – Abigail Altenburg, Sixth grade, George Washington Middle School, “Family”
Second Place – Daisy Ballantine, Sixth grade, Jefferson-Houston School, “Almost There”

High School (grades 9-12)

First Place – Lillian Morton, Twelfth grade, T.C. Williams High School, “Learning To Walk in Heels”

Visual Arts

Primary (K-grade 2)

First Place – Saha Irwin, Second grade, Jefferson-Houston School, “Exploding the Future”
Second Place (tie) – Nathalie Garza Bangas, First grade, James K. Polk Elementary School, “I Love School”
Second Place (tie) – Claire Joffrion, First grade, Douglas MacArthur Elementary School
“Monkey Bars Are Within My Reach”
Third Place – Charlie Corbin, First grade, Matthew Maury Elementary School, “Reaching My Pontenteilor”
Honorable Mention – Winston Sadoo, Second grade, Charles Barrett Elementary School, “Reach Farther”

Intermediate (grades 3-5)

First Place – Claudia Cutting, Fifth grade, Matthew Maury Elementary School, “The Long Journey”
Second Place – Josephine Battle, Third grade, Douglas MacArthur Elementary School, “Harmony”
Third Place (tie) – Celeste Bernstein, Fifth grade, Mount Vernon Community School, “The TOP!”
Third Place (tie) – Aleksandra Richardson, Fifth grade, James K. Polk Elementary School, “The Wall”
Honorable Mention – Gabriela Galvan, Third grade, Cora Kelly School for Math, Science & Technology, “Reach In”
Director’s Award – Isabelle Lara, Third grade, George Mason Elementary School, “My Future”
Director’s Award – Karol de la Cruz Ortega, Fifth grade, William Ramsay Elementary School, “Success”

Middle School (grades 6-8)

First Place – Claudia Martino, Eighth grade, George Washington Middle School, “Las Patronas”
Second Place – James McBride, Sixth grade, Jefferson-Houston School, “In the Palm of Our Hands”

High School (grades 9-12)

First Place – Ava Benbow, Eleventh grade, T.C. Williams, “Outreached Hand”