SAN JOSE, CA -- Kobie Long, all of 10 years old, bound onto stage at the National PTA Convention here Saturday, and suddenly the darkened room lit up from her smile.

From Hubbell Elementary School in Des Moines -- and with Uncle Ed McGill and Aunt Dawn McGill among more family back home in West Des Moines -- the little girl told a packed ballroom what she'd tell other kids about winning the PTA's Reflections Award.

"That they should enter, and it's a lot of fun, and they might win a sweet trip," she told a packed ballroom, where her smile gleamed from two giant video screens set up so the people in the neck-ache section could see her.

With her mother and father, Krista and Frank Long, in the room, her photos were flashed on the screen, and when she was given the award, the hundreds of people in attendance gave her this: a standing ovation.

She deserved it. Hundreds of thousands of students across the country entered the PTA's Reflection Program, which is designed to enhance quality arts education for students in preschool through grade 12.

And our Iowa girl won.