Wow - some 2,850 students across Wake County participated in this year's PTA Reflections contest. This year, students were asked to reflect on the theme "WOW!"

"Wow. They are all winners," NBC-17 news anchor Kim Genardo said as she began to present the Reflections awards Feb. 11 at Cary High School. "It was so great to walk into the studio and see all of the art work. I judged the literature awards; they made me laugh and they made me cry."

The yearly contest emphasizing arts began over 40 years ago when it was introduced by the National PTA. Students are given the chance to submit literature, paintings and drawings, photography, video and film productions, dance choreography and music compositions.

The Wake County PTA partnered with NBC-17 this year to help judge the pieces once they moved on to the county level. Of the 900 that were submitted, 68 received honors.

The entrance to the Cary High auditorium displayed colorful photographs and paintings. Yassee Mohebbi, a senior at Apex High who submitted a photo of water collected in the shape of feet, won second place in the category. A sophomore at Green Hope High, Caitlyn Kurilich's drawing of beautifully colored butterflies contrasts starkly against a woman's face in black and white except for her brown eyes. Long tables held a variety of essays, short stories and poems, and envelope after envelope of dances and films submitted on tape.

"The arts are very important in the Wake County School System," said superintendent Del Burns at the awards ceremony. "I am proud to say the arts are strong. Recognizing, supporting and fostering the talents of our students is one of the best things we do."

Myles Travitz, a sophomore at Panther Creek High, won in the senior category of the music composition. His entry, along with 16 others that won at the district level, will progress to the state competition. He performed his song, "Remembrance: In Memory of Kris Marceno," at the ceremony.

Travitz wrote his song to honor one of his best friends, Kristian Marceno, an Enloe High student who passed away in November while reportedly playing a dangerous choking game.

"I gotta slow down/I need to find my way/ I'll make it there somehow/And suffer through the pain," he sang as he played piano.

"I thought it would be a cool idea to see how a composition which I wrote would do against other people. And I'm pretty happy about it," he said of moving on to the state competition. "I'm doing it for Kris.

When I win at any of the levels, Kris wins with me. He was my inspiration for this song."

Travitz and the other finalists will have to wait until March to find out if their work will progress from the state to the national level.