Three Milton students earned recognition for their writing in this year’s prestigious Scholastic Art and Writing Awards—the country’s oldest awards program for creative teenagers. While over 185,000 students submitted work for consideration, only 2,700 were selected for Silver and Gold Medals.
Sarah Costello (I) earned a Gold Medal in Poetry for a collection of her poems. The collection includes pieces that Sarah has written from her Class III year up through now. She looks forward to attending the awards ceremony with her parents.
Tina Cho (II) won a Gold Medal in the Short Short Story category for her work titled “Delivery Failure.” She wrote the piece for her Creative Writing class last year, but continued to edit and refine it. “I am excited to win a medal for what is my most favorite story that I’ve written so far at Milton,” Tina says.
Hannah Grace (II) won a Silver Medal in Poetry for a group of four poems she submitted. Her favorite, “Penelope,” is a poem about a present-day woman whose soldier husband dies at war. The piece ties back to Homer’s character Penelope, wife of Odysseus. “It is quite an honor to be recognized in such a prestigious contest. It’s encouraged me to keep writing and working hard at it,” says Hannah.
High school students from across the country submitted samples of their poetry, humor, journalism, novel writing and science fiction, as well as creative works from several visual art media. Panels of renowned artists, authors, educators and art professionals judged the students’ submissions on their originality, technical skill, and the emergence of personal vision or voice.
Sarah, Tina, Hannah, and their fellow student-artist honorees will be celebrated in a ceremony hosted by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers at Carnegie Hall in May.
