Scholastic Art & Writing Winners

This piece by Aida El-Hajjar '27, titled "Just Human, and You?," won a Gold Key award in drawing and illustration from the Scholastic Art Competition. It was one of an incredible seven Gold Keys, eight Silver Keyes, and nine Honorable Mentions that she won at the regional level. El-Hajjar created it using alcohol markers and charcoal on vellum paper. "I wanted this title to serve as both a statement and a question, encouraging viewers to explore the depths of their own beliefs," she said.

Her sister, Raya El-Hajjar '25, won a silver medal at the national level of the Scholastic Writing Competition for her flash fiction piece titled "In Barcelona," after winning four Gold Keys, four Silver Keys, and four Honorable Mentions at the regional level. She initially wrote the piece for an English assignment about "Giovanni's Room" by James Baldwin. "I was drawn to Hella, a background character, and through my writing I wanted to explore her struggles with femininity and marriage, part of Baldwin's commentary on societal norms," she said.

Visit usmtoday.org/scholastic2024 for links to "In Barcelona;" a photo gallery of the students' regional award-winning artwork; and lists of all regional art and writing award winners.

Congratulations to all of the Scholastic Art and Writing regional award winners*:

• Ezran Anastas '25
• Rosie Barksdale '27
• Eva Barth '25
• Ainsley Berger '27
• Chloe Chen '27
• Grace Chen '27
• Gianna Cooks '26
• Aurelia Dawson '26
• Abigail Dengel '27
• Christian Doll '26
• Darcy Doyle '26
• Aida El-Hajjar '27
• Raya El-Hajjar '25
• Reiley Fitzsimmons '26
• Gabi Ortiz Fleet '26
• Wiley Fowler '24
• Natalie Gapinski '24
• Anand George '26
• Jorge Guifarro '25
• Madelyn Hernandez '25
• Eliana Igwike '26
• Emily Igwike '24
• Emmanuel Igwike '28
• Sophie Irwin '27
• Avana Kelly '25
• Nikhil Lazzaro '26
• Mia Lucke '27
• Tatiana Marich '25
• Azara Mason '24
• Madeline Mellowes '27
• Sullivan Mellowes '25
• Izabel Muñoz '25
• David Naples '27
• Tommaso Pantalei '25
• Azariah Pogreba '27
• Divya Rao '27
• Clara Robinson '27
• Halimah Shittu '25
• Kiran Siddalingaiah '25
• Lauren Stone '26
• Laya Sumithra '25
• Francesca Sturino '26
• Harini Tallam '26
• Sophia Torinus '25
• Ethan Van Genderen '26
• Eshaan Vasudev '26
• Aidan Wang '24
• Angela Wang '26
• Addy Witt '27
• William Zhao '27

*Names were collected to the best of our ability; any omissions are unintentional.