Way to Go: Jillian Miller, Syosset

A Syosset student with a passion for dance was honored recently with the opportunity to perform her award-winning, self-choreographed piece at the U.S. Department of Education in the nation's capital.

Jillian Miller, 11, a sixth-grader at Harry B. Thompson Middle School, got an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington last month to perform the dance she submitted last school year to the 2014 National PTA Reflections program. The works of more than 200 Reflections winners nationwide are on exhibit at the LBJ Education Building through Wednesday.

"I felt like this was very cool for me, because it's my first step to something that could take me a long way," said Jillian, who achieved the recognition after earning Reflections program awards at the district, county and state levels. She recorded her routine in a dance room in her basement to the song "You Can Be Anything" by Wizardz of Oz.

The Reflections program, designed to encourage involvement in the arts among students in prekindergarten through 12th grade, includes categories in dance choreography, film production, literature, music composition, photography and visual arts. Entries are judged on artistic merit, creativity, medium mastery and theme interpretation.

Jillian spends more than 30 hours a week as part of an award-winning dance team at Fusion Dance Complex in Holbrook.