Students are encouraged to create art inspired by the “Magic of the Moment” for this year’s Reflections art program, a contest for students in kindergarten through twelfth-grade offered by parent-teacher associations nationwide.

The Bigfork PTA is participating in the program for the third year in a row and the deadline for entry is Dec. 14.

PTA president Leslie Stodghill said the program is a good way for students to participate in something that doesn’t revolve around sports.

“We have a lot of kids who are artistically talented and we wanted to give them an opportunity to showcase that,” Stodghill said. “We just thought it was a great program and something we wanted to be a part of.”

Reflections was founded in 1969 by Mary Lou Anderson. The program revolves around theme-based art produced in six categories, dance choreography, film production, literature, musical composition, photography or visual arts.

Participating schools can choose two winners from each grade level for each category to send to the state competition. State winners are then sent to the national competition.

Stodghill said Bigfork sent nine students to the state competition last year, of which three went on to nationals. “Diversity means...” was last year’s theme.

One of Bigfork Elementary School’s winners produced a film that showed viewers different objects in the house, and that was what diversity meant to the student.

“Kids are encouraged to think about it and what it means to them,” Stodghill said.

Bigfork only sent nine students last year because not very many students entered art into the program. Stodghill said the film production and dance choreography categories receive less entries than the other categories, so entrants have a higher chance of being chosen to go to the state competition.

She also said parents and teachers are asked to help encourage and support students creativity in the competition. Elementary school art teach Heather Epperly is helping students in kindergarten through fifth-grade.

The National PTA website, www.pta.org, is a good place to find previous years’ category winners and what they entered. Looking at previous years’ work can help students gain confidence and figure out what to enter into the competition.

“I think it makes them kind of think ‘I can do this,’” Stodghill said.

Entries must be submitted to the PTA by Wed., Dec. 14. The Bigfork PTA will choose winners over winter break and announce them at an art reception on Jan. 10, 2013 in the Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts, where all the artwork will be on display. The time is still to be determined. Winners will be sent to the state competition on Feb. 1, 2013.