The 2022-2023 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards recognized 62 students Jan. 26. Students were awarded either a Gold Key, Silver Key or Honorable Mention award, and all applicants that received a regional Gold Key from the jurors will move on to the national awards.

The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards was established in 1923, making it the oldest and most prestigious recognition program for teens in 7th to 12th grade across the United States, according to their website.

Visual Arts Department Head Gustavo Godoy said the Scholastic Awards are very exciting for students, and awards depend on the judge’s personal preferences.

“[The competition] is a big deal,” Godoy said. “If you win certain levels, you’re invited to go to New York or Washington D.C. to receive an award at Carnegie Hall, and sometimes kids can win scholarships and decent cash prizes. It’s a nice honor, but I also think that some kids win with pieces that aren’t as sophisticated as some of our more advanced students at times, and it’s just a matter of who was judging and what they’re interested in.”

Nicole Choen ’24, who won a Gold Key in the Critical Essay category, said her piece about properly naming Korean historical events was gratifying and allowed her to connect to her culture.

“I started this piece last-minute when I remembered a conversation I had with a Korean War veteran at a performance, and this set me off into a journey that helped me understand my culture’s history and pain,” Choen said. “I am incredibly honored to have had the opportunity to both learn about my culture and be rewarded for the results of this journey.”

Ian Kim ’24, who won three Gold Keys in photography, a Gold Key and American Voices Nomination in dramatic script and two Silver Keys in painting and critical essay said the program allows him to improve his work.

“Scholastic is great for receiving validation for your work since as a writer you don’t have competitions every week, and you have to rely a lot more on what you think speaks to you and what you want to write,” Kim said. “I’ve found that the more I develop my art and writing, the more critical I am of my work, so I’m really thankful for my writing mentors, Mr. Martin and Dr. Rado, and my photo teacher, Ms. Pacheco Garcia, for giving me a fresh perspective.”

Claire Wu ’24, who won a Silver Key and two Honorable Mentions in photography, said art can be a universal language.

“As a Chinese immigrant, it was sometimes hard to talk to people in English,” Wu said. “There are barriers to languages or education, but not in photography, which provides equitable access to all. It is possible that people’s takeaway from the picture is not what the artist expected, but that is the beauty of photography because everyone has a different story to tell.”

Jasmine Sorgen ’25, who won a Silver Key in Poetry and Honorable Mentions in Poetry and in Critical Essay, said she had struggled to select pieces for submission.

“It was hard to choose which pieces to submit because a lot of my good writing is really dark, so I had to find an intersection between good writing and being a bit more appropriate,” Sorgen said. “The majority of my writing is about depression and mental illness, so I focused on selecting more diverse pieces that were less trite and wouldn’t be too graphic.”

See below for the student winners of the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards:

Writing

1. Avery Azad ’24: Silver Key in Poetry
2. Joshua Barnavon ’24: Honorable Mention in Science Fiction and Fantasy
3. Nicole Choen ’24: Gold Key in Critical Essay
4. Lucas Cohen-d’Arbeloff ’23: Gold Key in Journalism, Honorable Mention in Journalism
5. Dylan Graff ’24: Gold Key in Journalism, two Silver Keys in Journalism, Honorable Mention in Journalism
6. Jade Harris ’24: Gold Key in Poetry, Gold Key in Short Story, Silver Key in Flash Fiction, Silver Key in Journalism
7. Juliet Katz ’23: Honorable Mention in Personal Essay & Memoir
8. Zhi Feng Etan Kiang ‘25: Gold Key in Critical Essay, Honorable Mention in Short Story
9. Ian Kim ’24: Silver Key in Critical Essay, Gold Key and American Voices Nominee in Dramatic Script
10. Alex Lee ’24: Silver Key in Critical Essay, Honorable Mention in Science Fiction and Fantasy, Honorable Mention in Critical Essay, Honorable Mention in Short Story
11. Natalie Lim ’24: Silver Key in Poetry
12. Brielle Lubin ’24: Silver Key in Poetry, Honorable Mention in Dramatic Script
13. Rustom Malhotra ’24: Gold Key in Poetry
14. Nilufer Mistry Sheasby ’24: Honorable Mention in Critical Essay
15. Anaya Olivas ’25: Honorable Mention in Poetry
16. Sarah Parmet ’25: Two Silver Keys in Poetry, Honorable Mention in Humor
17. Anusha Shayegan ’24: Gold Key in Poetry
18. Olivia So ’25: Silver Key in Science Fiction and Fantasy
19. Jasmine Sorgen ’25: Silver Key in Poetry, Honorable Mention in Poetry, Honorable Mention in Critical Essay
20. Lily Stambouli ’24: Honorable Mention in Humor
21. Helena Wu ’23: Silver Key in Poetry

Art

1. Andres Alas ’25: Silver Key in Photography, Gold Key in Photography, Honorable Mention in Photography
2. Tanya Anand ’24: Honorable Mention in Photography, Silver Key in Photography
3. Avery Azad ’24: Honorable Mention in Photography
4. Dominic Benson Landes ’24: Honorable Mention in Photography
5. Kaitlin Caras ’23: Silver Key in Painting, Honorable Mention in Painting
6. Addison Carson ’25: Gold Key in Photography
7. Barbara Chen ’23: Honorable Mention in Painting, Silver Key in Painting
8. Charles Cho ’25: Honorable Mention in Painting, Gold Key in Photography
9. Heather Choi ’25: Honorable Mention in Drawing & Illustration, Honorable Mention in Sculpture
10. Caroline Daub ’23: Honorable Mention in Painting
11. Aerin Duke ’23: Honorable Mention in Painting
12. Raisa Effress ’23: Two Honorable Mentions in Photography, Honorable Mention in Art Portfolio, Honorable Mention in Mixed Media
13. Haruka Endo ’24: Silver Key in Painting, Two Silver Keys in Mixed Media
14. Sophia Evans ’23: Honorable Mention in Drawing & Illustration, Honorable Mention in Design
15. Sasha Gadalov ’25: Honorable Mention in Painting
16. Diego Godoy ’24: Silver Key in Ceramics and Glass, Gold Key, American Visions Nominee in Ceramics and Glass
17. Ashley Hahn ’24: Three Honorable Mentions in Photography, Two Silver Keys in Photography, Honorable Mention in Mixed Media, Gold Key in Digital Art, Gold Key in Editorial Cartoon sponsored by The Herb Block Foundation
18. Keira Haley ’24: Silver Key in Painting, Gold Key in Photography, Silver Key in Photography
19. Julia Im ’23: Two Silver Keys in Mixed Media, Honorable Mention in Art Portfolio, Honorable Mention in Drawing & Illustration
20. Ian Kim ’24: Three Gold Keys in Photography, Silver Key in Painting
21. Katelyn Kim ’25: Honorable Mention in Photography
22. Annabel Kriger ’25: Gold Key in Sculpture, Honorable Mention in Sculpture
23. Mina Lavapies ’24: Two Gold Keys in Photography, Silver Key in Photography
24. Alex Lee ’25: Two Honorable Mentions in Mixed Media, Silver Key in Mixed Media
25. Alexandra Liu ’25: Honorable Mention in Painting
26. Savannah Mahoney ’25: Two Honorable Mentions in Photography, Silver Key in Photography
27. Juana Markman ’25: Honorable Mention in Mixed Media
28. Laura McNary ’25: Gold Key in Photography
29. Eva Park ’25: Silver Key in Painting
30. Victoria Peng ’23: Two Honorable Mentions in Painting, Honorable Mention in Art Portfolio, Gold Key in Painting
31. Thea Pine ’23: Silver Key in Sculpture
32. Maya Ray ’25: Honorable Mention in Photography
33. Hank Schoen ’24: Honorable Mention in Ceramics and Glass, two Gold Keys in Ceramics and Glass, Silver Key in Ceramics and Glass
34. Olivia So ’25: Silver Key in Photography, Honorable Mention in Photography
35. Olivia Suddleson ’24: Silver Key in Photography, Honorable Mention in Photography
36. Maya Trakhtenberg ’23: Honorable Mention in Ceramics and Glass
37. Miguel Villegas ’25: Silver Key in Photography, Honorable Mention in Photography
38. Skylar Whitley ’23: Honorable Mention in Painting, Honorable Mention in Printmaking
39. Claire Wu ’24: Silver Key in Photography, two Honorable Mentions in Photography
40. Megan Yeh ’25: Gold Key in Drawing & Illustration

Gallery • 3 Photos

Printed with permission of Aerin Duke