With the virtual National Ceremony quickly approaching (TONIGHT at 6:00 pm EST, free and open to all!), the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers is just about ready to call it a wrap on the 2020 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards!
Although this is a celebratory moment for the Awards and the many young creatives whose achievements will be recognized in tonight’s virtual National Ceremony, we recognize that it comes at a challenging time for our country and for the world. In this moment, the Alliance has recommitted itself to the mission of the Scholastic Awards: to celebrate the creativity of young people from all walks of life, and to encourage young creatives to share their voices and visions with the world. With that in mind, we would like to take this space to celebrate the amazing works and perspectives of young people from throughout RAL (meaning around the country and the world) in preparation for tonight’s event. To see topical works from some of our Special Achievement Award winners, including works on civic expression, climate change, grief, and trauma, check out the Scholastic Awards Online Gallery here.
This year, more than 110,000 students across the country submitted nearly 320,000 works of art and writing to the Awards. More than 18,000 works received a Gold Key, the highest regional award, and went on to be considered for national recognition. On March 16, a list of almost 3,000 nationally awarded works, including Gold Medals, Silver Medals, and Special Achievement Awards, was published. Over 500 of these 3,000 nationally awarded works came from RAL students.
Now, before the Gold Medalists are celebrated at the virtual National Ceremony, and the Best Teen Writing and Best Teen Art of 2020 are released for all the world to see, let us take a moment to celebrate the creative students behind those 500 nationally awarded RAL works. Unfortunately, we will not be able to feature all of our talented RAL National Medalists in this post—so be sure to check out the Art & Writing online gallery to see the full collection of 2020 award recipients. As all Gold Medalists and Special Achievement Award recipients will be having their moment tonight, we will take this space to highlight the works of a few of our Silver Medalists, and our American Visions and Voices Medalists.
Congratulations to all our RAL award recipients!
And now, it’s on to meeting some of your Silver Medalists!
1. Schenayda Salido, Golden Child
2020 Silver Medalist, Mixed Media
Grade 10, Charleston County School of the Arts, North Charleston, SC
Anne Cimballa, Educator
Golden Child by Schenayda Salido
See Golden Child in the Art & Writing online gallery.
2. Eden Addisu, Back To My Roots
2020 Silver Medalist, Personal Essay & Memoir
Grade 11, Lancaster Mennonite School, Lancaster, PA
Elizabeth Weaver-Kreider, Educator
Back to My Roots by Eden Addisu
See Eden’s full work, Back to My Roots, in the Art & Writing online gallery.
3. Genesis Mejia, Not Conceptual #1
2020 Silver Medalist, Sculpture
Grade 12, H.B Beal Secondary School, Canada
Jeff Heene, Educator
Not Conceptual #1 by Genesis Mejia
See Not Conceptual #1 in the Art & Writing online gallery.
4. Allister Jones, Mr. Bortaplumpy
2020 Silver Medalist, Humor
Grade 8, Home School, Ponte Vedra, FL
Tammy Jones, Educator
Mr. Bortaplumpy by Allister Jones
See Allister’s full work, Mr. Bortaplumpy, in the Art & Writing online gallery.
5. Katie Drake, Cecil
2020 Silver Medalist, Fashion
Grade 11, John Cooper School, The Woodlands, TX
Bob Mosier, Educator
Cecil by Katie Drake
See Cecil in the Art & Writing online gallery.
6. Alexa Wilcox, Flora Stone
2020 Silver Medalist, Novel Writing
Grade 11, Charles P. Allen High School, Canada
Jamie Leck, Educator
Flora Stone by Alexa Wilcox
See Alexa’s full work, Flora Stone, in the Art & Writing online gallery.
7. Junseo (Kevin) Kim, Crashing
2020 Silver Medalist, Digital Art
Grade 12, Shaker High School, Latham, NY
Anne Manzella, Carrie Lue; Educators
Crashing by Junseo (Kevin) Kim
See Crashing in the Art & Writing online gallery.
8. Lindsay Li-Garrison, An Endless Sea
2020 Silver Medalist, Flash Fiction
Grade 10, Peak To Peak Charter School, Lafayette, CO
Catherine Fink, Educator
An Endless Sea by Lindsay Li-Garrison
See Lindsay’s full work, An Endless Sea, in the Art & Writing online gallery.
9. Will Farhat, Outset
2020 Silver Medalist, Video Game Design
Grade 11, Harvard-Westlake Upper School, North Hollywood, CA
Claire Cochran, Educator
Outset by Will Farhat
See Will’s full work, Outset, in the Art & Writing online gallery.
10. Christopher Aung, Half-Breed
2020 Silver Medalist, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Grade 8, St. Stephen’s Episcopal School, Austin, TX
Victoria Woodruff, Educator
Half-Breed by Christopher Aung
See Christopher’s full work, Half-Breed, in the Art & Writing online gallery.
We’re also proud to present RAL’s American Visions and American Voices 2020 Medalists!
Check out the links below to see each RAL American Visions and Voices Medalist’s full works in the Art & Writing online gallery:
American Voices: Solving for Father by Alice Cai, Grade 11, Fayetteville, AR; Six Feet Under Silence by Camryn Hambrick, Grade 11, Greenville, SC; Collection of Poems by Christopher Barlow, Grade 12, South Portland, ME; Unrequited by Cindy Phan, Grade 12, Salt Lake City, UT
American Visions: Kinetic Type by Benay Daniel, Grade 12, Greenville, SC; Hung by a Thread by Gregory Lee, Grade 12, Santa Monica, CA; Unspoken Blues by Teresa So, Grade 9, Sugar Land, TX; Faces by Wesley Wang, Grade 10, Jericho, NY
Congratulations again to all of the our RAL medalists!
Check out the full list of National Medal recipients and their awarded works at artandwriting.org.
The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are open for submissions annually from September through December. See upcoming important dates to learn more about submission deadlines for RAL this year, and make sure to check out May’s Start.Write.Now challenge for a chance to share your art with fellow creatives and win a gift card!
Region-at-Large 