The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards is the nation’s longest running and most prestigious recognition program for teenagers involved in the visual and written arts. Students are awarded Gold Key, Silver Key or Honorable Mention, with opportunities to advance to national judging. The first round of the awards is the regional selection process. The entries are chosen for awards based on originality, technical skill and emergence of a personal voice or vision. 

Per usual, many LOHS students were recognized for their artistic talent by the Scholastic Art Awards this year. The winners of the regional Gold Keys were senior Ashley Lewis for her entry in drawing and illustration and her entry in the editorial cartoon category, sophomore Clementine Jaffe for her entry in ceramics and glass, senior Sophia Wang for her entry in drawing and illustration and her entry in painting, sophomore Jifeng Li for his entry in design, sophomore Lyra Johnson for her writing entry in science fiction and fantasy, freshman Raquel Pihlstrom for her writing entry in poetry, senior Lucia Zhang for her writing entry in personal essay and memoir and senior Cole Daly for his entry in photography.

Artists who receive the Gold Key award are automatically considered for national awards. Along with the prestige that comes with winning recognition in the awards, there is scholarship money up for grabs as well. Both educators and students can win up to $10,000 of scholarship money for their creative skills and hard work. All eight LOHS Gold Key awardees will move on to the next round of the competition where their artwork could be recognized on a national level. Various LOHS artists also received nine Silver Key awards and 21 honorable mentions. 

Jaffe won a Gold Key for her ceramic piece titled Golden Waxcap. Initially, she crafted the mug as a gift for her sister. The ants that crawl up the ceramic were from a silk screen and they added the perfect addition to her piece. Jaffe has dreams of pursuing art in the future starting with building her portfolio throughout the remainder of high school and eventually an art degree. 

Fellow artist, Lewis, portrayed relevant and important social issues through her digital art piece titled, Don’t Burst My Bubble. Lewis intended to “tackle the sad reality of ever-present homophobia in a more fantastical, understandable, and humorous way” through her image and she executed it flawlessly.  It was an emotional piece for her to design but something that she believed was “important to create to bring light to the discrimination, hate, and injustice the LGBTQ+ community faces.” 

Congratulations are in order for Jaffe, Lewis and the other talented students of LOHS. The student body wishes the Gold Key recipients luck as they enter the national competition.