Scholastic Writing Winners Announced

Congratulations to the below University School of Milwaukee students, who have earned regional awards from the Scholastic Art and Writing Competition. A total of 22 students earned 16 Gold Keys, 11 Silver Keys, and 12 Honorable Mentions in the writing portion of the competition. 

When judges review and score writing entries, they consider originality in ideas or presentation, skill in structure and mechanics, and personal voice, tone, and perspective. 

There are more than 340,000 art and writing entries at the regional level throughout 100 affiliates, and only 5 to 7% of those receive Gold Keys and have their work judged again for national consideration. Out of those that are judged, only about 1% receive national medals. National medal winners will be announced in late March.

• Dalia Chairez ’24: Honorable Mention in Personal Essay & Memoir for “Mini Anthology of a First Generation Latina”
• Raya El-Hajjar ’25: Gold Key in Science Fiction & Fantasy for “Patient 43”
• Anastasia Finley ’25: Gold Key in Poetry for “Behind the Veil” and Gold Key in Personal Essay & Memoir for “The Duality of the Inner Psyche Is Truly Fascinating”
• Lucy Flack ’23: Silver Key in Poetry for “Don’t Forget Who Gave Your Life”
• Anand George ’26: Gold Key in Journalism for “Gerrymandering: A Threat to Democracy”
• Anjali George ’24: Silver Key in Critical Essay for “Exploring the Cycle of Socialization: A Case Study of ‘The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas’”
• Eliana Igwike ’26: Gold Key in Short Story for “sleeping in the snow, praying for ashes” and Gold Key, American Voices Nominee in Poetry for “Dear Suburban Black Girls”
• Emily Igwike ’24: Gold Keys in Poetry for “new African,” “towards the end,” “a mother’s soliloquy,” and “change.” Silver Key in Poetry for “driving through nkerehi,” and Silver Key in Short Story for “Where We Came From”
• Jackeline Jiménez ’24: Gold Key in Poetry for “martes,martes // Frijolito! // Prologue”
• Asma Kazi ’23: Silver Key in Short Story for “Disappearing to the Rain”
• Avana Kelly ’25: Gold Key in Poetry for “the painful truth”
• Azara Mason ’24: Gold Key in Poetry for “Lucky?” and Silver Key in Poetry for “2020 Vision”
• Srikar Mudili ’24: Silver Key in Short Story for “American Desi”
• Zachary Sardas-Trevorrow ’23: Gold Key in Flash Fiction for “So what will you say at my funeral now that you’ve killed me?” and Silver Key in Poetry for “Things That Make Me Rage,” and Honorable Mention in Poetry for “Not Your Type of Pretty”
• Nathan Steinbach ’24: Honorable Mentions in Critical Essay for “Dehumanization: Looking Past a Definition” and “Marat: Martyr For the People? Or Mastermind of Murder?”
• Elise Stephens ’24: Honorable Mention in Critical Essay for “410 U.S. 113 (1973)”
• Sophia Torinus ’25: Silver Key in Poetry for “Where the waves meet the shore”
• Eshaan Vasudev ’26: Silver Key in Poetry for “The Foolish Mortal” and Honorable Mentions in Poetry for “A Monument to Eternity” and “An Ode to Time”
• Aidan Wang ’24: Honorable Mention in Personal Essay & Memoir for “Savoring a Bite of Culture” and 
• Honorable Mention in Critical Essay for “ChatGPT Raises Questions: How Can AI Become Less Scary But More Useful?”
• Angela Wang ’26: Gold Key in Poetry for “unearthing brown;” Silver Key in Short Story for “In Loving Memory of Her;” Honorable Mention in Short Story for “Struggles of the Household;” and Honorable Mention in Poetry for “The Unspoken Rules”
• Isabel Werner ’24: Honorable Mention in Personal Essay & Memoir for “An Epic’s Interlude: Assortment of Anecdotes”
• William Zhao ’24: Gold Key in Personal Essay & Memoir for “The world is made of stories, not atoms” and Silver Key in Critical Essay for “An Analysis on the Flaws of Standardized Testing”

In addition to the achievements in Scholastic Writing, read about the 27 USM students who received awards from the Scholastic Art competition in January.