Regional Scholastic Art & Writing Awards

Fifty-seven students in Spring Branch ISD received 64 awards recently from the annual Scholastic Art & Writing regional contest in both the art and writing divisions.

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards recognizes creative teens across the United States through this prestigious program, which is also a source of student scholarships.

Lorelei Shannon's Gold Key comic strip"Spaced Out"

Beginning each fall, area schools and districts submit students’ best artwork and writing samples to compete at the regional level.  Entries are judged by panels of highly qualified professionals who select Gold Key, Silver Key, and Honorable Mention recipients in a multitude of categories.

The Gold Key winners go on to compete at the national level. More than 1,500 students receive national awards each year. Some notable past National Scholastic Art & Writing winners include artist Andy Warhol, poet Sylvia Plath, and youth writers Truman Capote and Robert Redford.

Student district awards include the following:

Scholastic Writing Categories 

Gold Key:
Memorial High
Brian Lin (personal essay) “My Bike And I”

Spring Branch Middle 
Collette Hickman (science fiction) “Synced”
Aidan Shine (poetry) “Contrasting”

Silver Key:
Memorial High
Sabina Mehdi (poetry) “Innocence”

Spring Branch Middle
Laney Shelander (poetry) “I Don’t Paint Like You”

Honorable Mention:
Memorial High
Sabina Mehdi “Untitled”

Spring Branch Middle
Desiree Fisch (poetry) “Love to bind, War, Rain, Wonder Trees”
Isha Tharpar (poetry) “The True Meaning of Death” and “Perfection is For the Preferred”

Scholastic Art Categories
Gold Key:
Memorial High
Anna Cho (mixed media) “Daydreaming” and (drawing) “Omnipresence”
Inchan Hwang (drawing) “Why Suffering”
Hyeyun Jeong (portfolio) “My Portfolio” and (drawing) “Flame and Ice”
Seo Woo Jong (painting) “Talking in Time” and (painting) “Time Station”
Seotoung Kim (painting) “Gift from the, the Wind”
Erica Kim (drawing) “Daydream”
Maurine Westmoreland (drawing) “Countdown to Catharsis”          

Lorelei Shannon's Gold Key drawing "The Owl Family"

Spring Woods High
Lorelei Shannon (drawing) “The Owl Family” and (comic art) “Spacedout”

Stratford High
Erica Jeon (drawing) “Dip of Faith”

Sliver Key:
Memorial Middle
Jun-Yong Kim (drawing) “Myselfie”
Emily Ward (printmaking) “Many Me’s”

Memorial High
Seo Woo Jong (portfolio) “My Silver Key”
Jennifer Kim (painting) “At East”
Seoyoung Kim (drawing) “Lighting Up the Old West”
Nayae Kwon (drawing) “Swimming at the Dog Park”
Anna Lai (portfolio) “Musings of an Open Mind”
Joy Lu (drawing) “An Apple a Day”
Jose Molina (drawing) “Lights Out” and (painting) “Mellow Reflections”
Bethany Ochs (portfolio) “Heart of the Storm May”
Sami Palermo (mixed media) “Hate Fire”
Aubrey Siller (photography) “The Village”
Xin Yu Xiao (drawing) “Teddy”

Spring Woods High
Colton Brooks (portfolio) “The Amazing Oddmotical Body Part”
Roy Villegas (drawing) “Scratch Bird”

Stratford High
Ha Bee Lee (portfolio) “Spirited”

Honorable Mention:
Memorial Middle
Arturo Morales (printmaking) “Trufa”

Memorial High
Hank Clinch (portfolio) “2013”
Ryan Cowell (portfolio) “Vignettes”
Molly Csorba (photography) “One Leaping Lady”
Sima Daneshvar (photography) “Electric Surge”
Andrew Eberhart (photography) “Church of Darkness”
Paige Fargerson (drawing) “Orange Spider”
Halina Haiider (photography) “Aurora”
Hyeyun Jeong (drawing) “Can’t Live Without”
Brian Lin (painting) “Lucky”
Jose Molina (portfolio) “Perceptions and Reflections”
Michelle Oh (portfolio) “Biproducts of a Sleepless Senior Year”
Erin Pisters (printmaking) “Ocean Token”
Lucas Sneed (photography) “Run Water, Run”
Marlee Tarwater (photography) “Bottle Cap Alley”
Flora Thevoux (painting) “Those Desperate Souls” and (sculpture) “Truth at Last”
Kiersten Underhill (photography) “Aja”
Maurine Westmoreland (drawing) “Countdown to Catharsis”

Spring Woods High 
Janette Leon (drawing) “Glitter Party”
Annie Lui (drawing) “Companion”
Cesar Manzanares (drawing) “Esmeralda”
Selena Quintanilla (mixed media) “Tiger Country”

Stratford High
Rachel McCleary (portfolio) “Bloom”
Bing Tng (photography) “Night Lights In the Island-state”

Communications Intern Kali Venable compiled this report.