Children showcase heroically hued pictures

Jeff Benson

“My hero is the green leaves

That grow on vines you see.

The twisty little vines

The flappy little leaves

Oh, I love the green.”

Fourth-grader Anna Newman has an arbitrary -- and arboreal -- view

of what constitutes a hero, but that was precisely the point of the

National PTA Reflections arts recognition program she and other

students participated in at Mariners Elementary School.

Her entry, a collection of several photographs, hung in a room at

the school Wednesday among dozens of others submitted by her

classmates.

“I shot this picture with my dad’s camera at home,” Anna, 9, said.

“I just like green and leaves because it’s part of our grapevine at

home. It just makes life prettier.”

Reflections, with this year’s theme of “A Different Kind of Hero,”

is giving students from kindergarten through sixth grade the

opportunity to express themselves through literature, photography,

visual arts and musical composition by defining what they find

heroic.

“A hero can be something as simple as a good friend that says

comforting words to make you feel better, a parent that spends time

coaching your sport or helps you dry up a wounded knee after a fall,”

Mariners Reflections chairwoman Lisa Albert said in instructions on

the exhibit sent home to students and parents. “ ... A hero can be

someone that has contributed greatly to our society and the world.”

About 100 Mariners students are displaying their finest works in

the school’s multi-purpose room, before their creations are judged by

school staff. Winning entries for the categories and different age

groups will be submitted to a state competition.

In total, 16 of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s 27

eligible schools are participating in the Reflections program this

year, according to Harbor Council PTA Reflections chairwoman Carol

Gaetano. Student participation is optional, she said.

Some students showcased paintings of their personal heroes,

including U.S. Marines, their families, their teachers and their

favorite superheroes.

“Some students submitted very sensitive stories of people they’ve

lost in their lives, to firemen, to creative fictional stories of

people they’ve made up,” Albert said. “There was one where an ice

cream man was a hero.”

Albert’s daughter Gabrielle, 7, said she hopes to win the school’s

top honors for the second straight year, this time for her painting

of herself and her mother.

“While she’s teaching in her art studio, I sit down and do this,”

Gabrielle said, pointing to her painting. “She’s my hero because she

takes me where I have to go.”

A panel of Harbor Council PTA judges will review nearly 500 pieces

of original photos, paintings, sculptures, stories, poems and

composed music and will submit the top 41 to a countywide

competition, Gaetano said.

“I think the reason I volunteer time to [judge] this is that it

reaches kids who are not getting positive feedback in other areas,”

Gaetano said. “We have kids participating who aren’t top scholars and

don’t get good-citizenship awards. This could keep them interested in

school.”