Two earn National Scholastic Awards

Two Memorial High School art students have won national honors in the annual Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, including one National Gold Key award, a top recognition that is automatically sent to New York City for additional judging and review.

The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards is the nation’s longest running and most prestigious art and writing competition open to teenagers in grades seven through 12.

The awards are affiliated with the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers. Spring Branch ISD students from Memorial High School who received awards this year include:

• Seo Woo “Michelle” Jong, 12th grade National Gold Key Medal, Painting “Talking in Time” Instructor: Cathleen May

• Anna “Hee Won” Cho, 11th grade National Silver Key Medal, Drawing “Omnipresence” Instructor: Cathleen May

Memorial High’s Seo Woo Jong was honored earlier this spring at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo when her acrylic painting of a scene she photographed at George Ranch was picked as the Rodeo’s Grand Champion.

It sold for $210,000 at auction, which tied Rodeo art auction records. Seo Woo hopes to attend Rhode Island School of Design this fall. In this year’s Scholastic Art & Writing event judging, more than 255,000 art and writing submissions were entered at the regional level from 47 states and five separate countries.

Only 16,500 received Gold or Silver Key regional awards, and only 1,800 national medals were awarded this year.

All regional award winners and their teachers were recognized at a celebration held at the Harris County Department of Education earlier this year.