Six East Cobb students landed national honors in the PTA Reflections arts competition, with three earning the program's top Award of Excellence for works that ranked among the best three or four entries in their category nationwide.

Riya Kumar, a Wheeler High School student, won the Award of Excellence in film production for her piece "Found My Part." Shreya Upadhayay of Dickerson Middle School earned the same honor in literature for "Until the Streetlights Come On," and Amulya Ganta, a Sope Creek Elementary student, took the literature prize for "Rina the Rainbow Dolphin."

Each Award of Excellence winner receives a $200 Young Artist Scholarship, a silver medal, a certificate, and a spot in the National PTA Reflections virtual exhibition, according to the East Cobb County Council of PTAs.

National PTA announced the winners May 1. The ECCC PTA released the local results July 23.

More than 300,000 students in pre-K through grade 12 submit original artwork each year, the ECCC PTA said. From that pool, 42 state PTA congresses forwarded over 900 entries to the national round for 2025-2026, and just over 200 students earned national recognition, according to National PTA's published results.

East Cobb's path to nationals ran through school-level judging, then the ECCC PTA round, then Georgia PTA judging by division before first-place finishers advanced to the national stage.

Two more East Cobb students earned the Award of Merit, which includes a bronze medal, certificate, and virtual exhibition placement. Evan, an East Side Elementary student, won in photography for "The United Nation is Where I Belong," and Ayaan, a Sope Creek Elementary student, won in visual arts for "I Belong – Two Homes, One Heart."

The 2025-2026 theme was "I Belong!" The program, now more than 50 years old, accepts entries in six categories: dance choreography, film production, literature, music composition, photography, and visual arts.

Registration for the 2026-2027 Reflections cycle, themed "What My Culture Means to Me," is open on the National PTA website. No local submission deadline has been announced.