PEPPER PIKE, Ohio – Seventeen works of art by 15 students in the Orange City School District were selected for first-place honors in the annual Orange PTA-sponsored Reflections program.
Nearly 60 entries were submitted, according to a news release from the district.
Winners advance to the state competition in Columbus.
Each year, students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade are invited to submit projects that are reflective of a pre-selected theme and represent the various arts. This year’s theme was “Accepting Imperfection.”
At the ceremony Nov. 20 in the Orange High School auditorium, students in four grade-level divisions – Primary, Pre-K through second; Intermediate, third through fifth; Middle School, sixth through eighth; and High School, ninth through 12th – were recognized for their projects.
Categories included Visual Arts, Literature, Music Composition, Film, Photography and Dance Choreography.
Winners in the High School division were Mane’ Sargsyan, Visual Arts; Tatev Sargsyan, Literature; and Samantha Speer, Photography.
Middle School division winners included Alessa Dicioccio, Literature and Visual Arts; Sylvia Goshe, Music; and Cecilia Cirino, Photography.
Winners in the Intermediate division included Abbey Decembly, Dance Choreography; Avery Schechter, Photography; Ellie Miller, Visual Arts; Yale Campbell, Film; and Kyra Rodenborn, Literature.
Primary division winners included Noah Schechter, Literature and Photography; Lucy Tutskey, Dance Choreography; Harper Miller, Visual Arts; and Henry Saltzman, Film.
First-place winners at the state level will move on to the national competition.
Certificates, ribbons, first-place medals and treats were presented courtesy of the PTA, and guests had the opportunity to enjoy each artistic work on display and via a slideshow.
The projects will be on display at the Orange branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library, 31975 Chagrin Blvd., in the coming weeks.
No Place for Hate pledge
As part of the national No Place for Hate program, Orange High School makes a yearly commitment to signing the No Place for Hate pledge in its high school community.
During lunch periods recently, OHS students and staff had the opportunity to sign the pledge once again to offer their continued dedication to the program.
All of the No Place for Hate programs focus on unity, support, respect and understanding.