On May 1, winners of the national PTA Reflections art contest were announced, and Panther Run Elementary School fourth grader Karley Kopacz was named the national winner in the film category, earning the award for Outstanding Interpretation for the film she produced, Heroes for Change.
Heroes for Change is the story of a survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Eden Hebron, who witnessed three of her friends lose their lives. She talks about how she’s coping with music therapy.
On May 4, Kopacz attended the state awards ceremony in Orlando, where she won an Award of Excellence and received a certificate, ribbon and medal.
Kopacz will be honored to represent Panther Run and the State of Florida in Columbus, Ohio, in June at the 2019 National PTA Annual Convention and Expo’s Reflections ceremony. There, she will present her film to the audience, where it will be shown.
Included with her award is an all-expenses-paid trip for Kopacz and a parent to attend the event, as well as an $800 Young Artists scholarship to further her artistic talents, and the Panther Run PTA will be awarded $200 to support arts and culture in the community. Kopacz also will be recognized in front of the Palm Beach County School Board.
Kopacz will then be heading to Washington, D.C., in January where all national award recipients also will be honored in a student showcase at the U.S. Department of Education, where the work will be on exhibit.
The work will be on a traveling exhibit for one year, until June 2020.
