Three Sycamore Middle School students will be honored for their work in the National Scholastic Arts and Writing Contest as part of the "virtual" presentation at the national awards ceremony, on June 4 from New York City. In all, Sycamore student writers earned 28 awards at the Regional Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards, with nine pieces advancing to the national competition.
Reflections."
Akshay Guttikonda (8) won a gold for his poem "The Phoenix Rises".
Aditi Dey (8) won a gold for her short story, "Exodus."
Their work was chosen out of 320,000 art and writing submissions. This makes their writing in the top 1% of submissions from students ages thirteen through the twelfth grade from all over the world.
REGIONAL RESULTS:
Gold Keys (all entered in the national competition)
Alex Lu: "Say Goodbye" (personal essay)
*National Award Winner* "Essential and Unforgettable: What Calvin and Hobbes Teaches Us About Our Daily Lives" (critical essay)
"Golden Reflections" (poem)
"Trophies"(poem)
Akshay Guttikonda: *National Award Winner* "The Phoenix Rises" (poem)
Kaden Xu: "Sanguine" (flash fiction)
Valarie Kossman: “The Disappearance of Mae Basin” (novel)
Aditi Dey: *National Award Winner* "Exodus" (short story)
Dani Wei: "The Astronaut" (short story)
Silver Keys
Alex Lu: poem "Stairway to Heaven" (poem)
"The Eye of My Sun" (poem)
"Evelyn" (short story)
"The Road" (flash fiction)
Alex Wei: short story "The Taxidermist" (short story)
Hanna Warren: poem "The Light" (poem)
"Something Better"(poem)
Dani Wei: "The Lottery of Dogmatic Traditions" (critical essay)
Honorable Mentions
Alex Lu: "Through Fresh Eyes" (personal essay)
"Morning" (poem)
"Reawakening" (poem)
Hanna Warren: "Someday" (poem)
poem "Mittens" (poem)
Since 1923, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards have recognized the vision, ingenuity, and talent of our nation’s youth, and provided opportunities for creative teens to be celebrated. Alumni include Andy Warhol, Robert Indiana, Sylvia Plath, Truman Capote, Bernard Malamud, Richard Avedon, Robert Redford, Alan Arkin, Lena Dunham, and John Lithgow, Ken Burns, and Richard Linklater.