反思计划（PTA Reflections program）有着40多年的历史，其宗旨是鼓励探索艺术才华的美国学生。该方案每年举行一次比赛，从在幼儿园到12年级的学生都可以参加。

比赛从学校，到区域，一直到全国级别，每年的全国奖项有：

·         杰出释义奖（Outstanding Interpretation Awards ）

·         卓越奖（Awards of Excellence）

·         优异奖（Awards of Merit）

·         荣誉奖（Honorable Mention）

比赛在六个艺术领域进行：

·         舞蹈编排 （Dance choreography)

·         电影制作 （Film production）

·         文学（Literature）

·         音乐创作（Musical composition）

·         摄影（Photography）

·         视觉艺术（Visual arts）

今年的思考主题是“多样性是指......”，如果有兴趣的话，可以上网站（http://www.ptareflections.org/）查阅详细资料。

这是女儿去年的参赛作品，学校出线。

Together We Can Defeat A Cat

A piece of pencil shaving poked a mouse, whose name was Lucky. Lucky darted after a piece of cheese, in a hole surrounded by tasty morsels of food. A gigantic plastic thing, painted yellow and brown, blocked her way.

“Wake up! Wake up, Lucky!” Reluctantly, Lucky opened her eyes. She had been dreaming about the cheese chasing.

“The cat is coming!” shrieked her little brother. The cat? Surely even a cat would not dare come into the mouse hole! Lucky did not believe it until a loud ringing circled the hole. The ringing must be from the bell on the cat’s collar. The mice were scurrying about, frantically making defenses. Lucky tried to think about defense, but the noise made it hard to concentrate.

A fellow mouse rolled spiky balls to the entrance. The spikes could injure a mouse easily. If they could be placed outside of the entrance, the cat might step on one.

Lucky looked at the escape route. It was a hole in the garage wall, too high to be jumped off without being injured, but still a good emergency exit. Lucky grabbed a wooden board that they used to sleep in. Groaning with the effort, she slid the board so that it made a ramp to reach the garage floor safely. Lucky found toy cars that they saved for just such an occasion, and prepared for them to zoom down the ramp.

Another mouse placed a spoon on a pencil. The spoon on the pencil could be a catapult. Staples, needles, and anything sharp were piled on the spoon. Rubber bands were stretched, ready to fire at the cat if it dared to come. Lucky felt tension in the air, and helped the elderly and children to evacuate through the speeding toy cars.

A loud crashing noise startled Lucky. The cat had found its way through a flap in the wall! Lucky froze for a second, and watched the cat eyeing the escaping mice hungrily. She grabbed a toothpick and poked the cat. Other mice got the idea and poked the cat with sharp objects. Soon the cat was backing away from spiky balls, needles, and toothpicks.

A mouse broke away from the fight and blocked the way out. Lucky’s little brother used a safety pin to block the mouse hole. The cat slowly began backing up to the flap, but the way out was blocked. Lucky stepped up to the cat and announced, “You are trapped here. If you want to get out, you must promise never to eat a mouse again. If you break that promise, you will be cursed to be trapped again with no exceptions. Now, do you accept?”

The cat glared at Lucky. “I decline.”

Lucky said calmly, “Then you stay.”

The cat glared at all of the mice. “Fine, I accept.”

Lucky let the cat out. The cat stalked out of the room, hissing. The evacuated mice scrambled back into the mouse hole.

Lucky declared, “Let this event be recorded so all mice may remember this agreement!” Mice recorded the event on almost everything they could find. They feasted for days. The cat never came back. Now, all of the original records have been lost over a period of long history, but there are still many copies. You are holding one in your hands, right now.