Featured image: Justice Delayed by Ryan Vance, Photography

True or false? The National Ceremony is coming up in less than 2 weeks…

TRUE!

Ok ok, we know the last thing you want is a quiz now that the school year is almost over, so let’s move on and continue celebrating our National Medal winners and get hyped for the big day on June 9–the National Ceremony!

In April and early May, we celebrated our National Art and Writing Portfolios and our Silver Medalists, and so today we are featuring our first round of rock star Gold Medalists and those who received national scholarship awards. While we will not be able to feature all of our incredible RAL Gold Medalists in this post, you can check out the full list of national award-winning pieces here. Make sure to come back the week of the ceremony to celebrate more of our Gold Medalists here on the blog, including our American Voices & Visions Medalists!

Congratulations again to all our RAL award recipients and to everyone who participated. The virtual National Ceremony on June 9 is almost upon us–get your party hats ready!

And now, on to our featured Gold Medalists and scholarship winners . . . let’s give them a hip hip hooray!

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Jessica Zhu, Bloom
2021 Gold Medal, Best-in-Grade Award, Short Story
Grade 8, St. Margaret’s Episcopal School, San Juan Capistrano, CA
Christie McMahon, Educator

Madhalasa Iyer, Epiphora
2021 Gold Medal, New York Life Award, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Grade 10, Liberty High School, Frisco, TX
Pernie Fallon, Educator

Ryan Vance, Justice Delayed
2021 Gold Medal, Best-in-Grade Award, Photography
Grade 9, Altamont School, Birmingham, AL
Marygray Hunter, Educator

Margaret Zhu, To Flatten the Curve
2021 Gold Medal, Best-in-Grade Award, Personal Essay & Memoir
Grade 7, Lakeside Middle School, Seattle, WA
Susie Mortensen, Educator

Aniela Holtrop, When Waves Come Calling
2021 Gold Medal, One Earth Award, Poetry
Grade 12, Freeport High School, Freeport, ME
Lisa Blier, Educator

Amberlin Smith, Unsatisfactory
2021 Gold Medal, Drawing & Illustration
Grade 11, Kelly Walsh High School, Casper, WY
Traci Kennedy, Educator

Dante Begay, ONLY A DREAM
2021 Gold Medal, Best-in-Grade Award, Poetry
Grade 10, New Mexico School for the Arts, Santa Fe, NM
James Reich, Educator

Chinonye Omeirondi, Black Girl Magic
2021 Gold Medal, Ray Bradbury Award for Science Fiction & Fantasy, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Grade 11, Cypress High School, Cypress, CA
Hiba Taylor, Educator

Halle-Mari Santiago, Squish
2021 Gold Medal, Drawing & Illustration
Grade 12, E.J. King High School, FPO, AP
Suzanne Sperl, Educator

Asher Barondes, Along the Beaten Path
2021 Gold Medal, Best-in-Grade Award, Novel Writing
Grade 11, Campbell Hall School, North Hollywood, CA
Jane Emerson, Educator

Elena Luo, Prodigium
2021 Gold Medal, Ray Bradbury Award for Science Fiction & Fantasy, Science Fiction & Fantasy
Grade 9, Hunterdon Central Regional High School, Flemington, NJ
Kelly Bousum, Educator

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Congratulations again to all Gold Medalists, and to all of our RAL national award winners!

. . . and don’t forget to sign up here for a reminder email when the 2022 Scholastic Awards open for entries. In the meantime . . . keep creating, and join us on June 9 at 7:00 pm ET for the premiere of the virtual National Ceremony!

Looking for more opportunities to be recognized? Students of African descent are invited to participate in local and national ACT-SO competitions! NAACP’s ACT-SO is a community-based program that provides a forum for youth of African descent to receive recognition for their achievements in academics, literary arts, visual arts, and the sciences.

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are open for entries annually from September through December. See upcoming important dates to learn more about what’s next for the Awards.