Students Win Gold at Scholastic Art & Writing Competition

Although Exonians submitted just as many pieces to the 2014 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards as in any normal year, students received an impressive eight national awards and 37 regional gold keys this year, up from three national awards last year.Winners of the national awards include gold medal recipients upper Millie Dunstan for drawing, senior Weilin Chan for pho- tography, lower Owen Duke for fashion and senior Kaci Kus for painting. Prep Carissa Chen was awarded an American Visions Medal for drawing, one of only two from the New Hampshire region. Exonians also won three national silver medals, including senior Katie McCarthy for Photography, prep Christine Hu for sculpture and senior Linh Tran for Digital Art.“It is very rewarding as an art educator to have so many talented students in our classes, winning regional and national awards,” art instructor Rebecca Barsi said. “We submitted just as many works to this year’s awards as we have in the past, but it was the unique and creative qualities of the work that enabled them to win.”The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, which have been held annually since 1923, is widely know as one of the most distin- guished awards program for artistic high school students in the United States. The production grants many creative students with scholarships that offer chances for future success and improve- ment, and awards are presented to students from all across the nation in a ceremony that takes place at Carnegie Hall this May.“We will be taking some students down to the awards ceremo- ny in New York City. Since the main celebration is the Saturday before graduation, I imagine some of our seniors may not be able to join us,” Barsi said.In addition to the national recognition Exonians received, stu- dents at the Academy also received more than 35 regional gold key awards, including honors in flash fiction, digital art and sculpture. Although regional awards are more common than national med- als, the prizes are still highly distinguished and winners are put into a pool to be considered for national recognition.“My drawing was of a Native American girl wearing tradi- tional clothing while looking down; it is an expression of a person who is grieving but holding it in within themselves,” Chen said. “I was so excited and surprised to receive such a great honor. I’m so excited to meet everyone at the national ceremony. The work, the art and the writing are truly amazing.”Whether Exonians spent the time creating works in a class or during summer, they were thrilled to receive such a high form of recognition.“I submitted a digital art piece named ‘Exodus,’ featuring one of my original characters and various flowers that represented her personality,” senior Linh Tran, who won a national silver medal, said. “I was very surprised when I won, considering that it was a piece I did over the summer just out of pure fun.”Upper June Han, who won a regional gold key award, was also pleasantly sur- prised after hearing about her achievement.“I wrote a flash fiction piece about a girl's coming of age and the clashing views on her being in her own family. I originally composed it for Mr. Perdomo's class, when he gave us a prompt that left us a lot of room to explore the topic on your own terms,” she said. “At first, I only received an email regarding poetry, so I thought I did not win an award for the flash fiction piece. When the email finally came, I was pretty caught off guard.” For many, the award is recognition for years of hard work and dedication.Tran said, “I have been doing art all my life. Winning the award means a lot to me because I have never thought that I would receive recognition for something I created. It is an overwhelming feeling.”