The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards is the nation’s longest running and most prestigious program for recognizing creative teens from grades seven to twelve. Last year, students submitted nearly 320,000 works of visual art and writing to the awards. More than 85,000 works were recognized at the regional level as a Gold Key, Silver Key, or Honorable Mention, and were celebrated in local exhibitions and ceremonies.
The top art and writing at the regional level proceed to the national stage where around 2,500 works earn national medals. National medalists and their educators are celebrated annually at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Currently, works that have won Gold Keys at the regional level are being considered for national recognition. If chosen, the student will head to New York City for the national ceremony. National medalists will be announced on Tuesday, March 14, 2017.
Among the Gold Key regional finalists being considered for the national award, 501 are from Montgomery County. Some of these finalists include Min Yeung from Walt Whitman High School for his science fiction/fantasy story “From the Very Beginning”; Dawson Do from Montgomery Blair High School for her painting “Autumn Bison Prairie”; Linda Zheng from Walter Johnson High School for her drawing “Make Your Own Sunshine”; and Emily Tian from Richard Montgomery High School for not one, but three poems, titled “osmosis,” “At the intersection between Broad and Jefferson St.,” and “The Persistence of Memory.”
Tian said, “You can showcase your work to a larger audience and judges who are amazing in their respective crafts. Arts education and writing are often overlooked, so Scholastic provides a competitive forum to foster student growth.”
The 2017 Scholastic Awards opened on September 14, 2016 and deadlines varied by region. If you want to participate in the 2018 Scholastic Awards, you can create an account and upload your work when submissions open again next year in September. There are many writing categories to enter in, including humor, poetry, short story, novel writing, and personal essay. For art submissions, students can enter in architecture, fashion, video games, paintings, drawings, and more. Many students choose to submit more than one work, or submit to both the art and writing contests.
Ultimately, the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards is a great way to recognize student-produced writing and artwork. A huge congratulations to all Montgomery County students who have won awards in the regional level, and good luck to the students who are awaiting national results!
Article by MoCo Student staff writer Camille Devincenti of Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School