Aralia Student Results
In early February 2022, the nation’s art and writing contest (Scholastic Art and Writing Awards) released their results for this academic year. Aralia’s students obtained 47 awards, which consisted of 8 Gold Key Awards, 22 Silver Key Awards, 17 Honorable Mentions!
Gold Key | Silver Key Awards | Honorable Mentions |
8 | 22 | 17 |
Students who won the Gold Key awards are high school students at schools across the United States, with one student in 9th grade winning 2 awards!
The Silver Key Award recipients are students in grades 8 to 12 from states around the US. One outstanding student this year received 5 Silver Key Awards across several categories. We were excited to hear that this year, the Silver Key Awards our students received increased significantly from the 8 awards our students received in 2021.
Additionally, this year Aralia’s students received 16 Honorable Mentions. In addition to serving students in the US, we also offer instruction to students outside the US. This year, one student in Canada successfully earned an Honorable Mention in the competition.
Overall, we are excited to celebrate our award-winning students in grades 8 to 12, especially when many students won multiple awards. Our students participated in various categories, including critical essay, journalism, science fiction, short story, flash fiction, poetry, photography, painting, and more.
About Scholastic Art and Writing Awards
The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards is the longest-running, oldest, and most prestigious literary and art competition in the United States, aiming to find creative works and original technical skills by students in grades 7-12. Since 1923, the Academic Art and Writing Award has recognized the vision, originality, and talent of young people, and has provided opportunities and academic awards for creative young people to express their talent. The high school award is a symbol for the pursuit of excellence and will help students stand out in university applications and scholarship applications.
Each year, in about 29 art and writing categories, students in grades 7 to 12 submit more than 330,000 pieces of art and writing. The judges are composed of outstanding figures in each judged field, and they will evaluate and select student work for both regional and national awards.
Eligible Students: Students who can participate in the competition: American and Canadian students in grades 7 to 12 as well as international students attending American or Canadian schools.
Competition Categories: Writing categories include critical essays, dramatic scripts, flash fiction, journalism, short stories, and others. Art categories include comic art, design, digital art, drawing and illustration, editing cartoons, and others.
Competition Timeline: September to December every year.
Official website: https://www.artandwriting.org/
Aralia’s Success
Since the creation of the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards preparation program, Aralia has put great importance on the cultivation of students’ English writing and artistic abilities. Most students who won the awards this year have developed their soft skills for an extended period under the leadership of Aralia’s writing and art instructors. Our students have improved in both their confidence and ability to be able to participate in competitions. The awards they have earned are evidence of their improvement and abilities in both writing and art.
Aralia is opening a new spring break writing competition preparation class if you’re interested in submitting your work to the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards this Fall as well as other prestigious writing competitions throughout the year:
Spring Break Writing Competition Preparation Class
Description:
Learn about poetry, novel writing, satirical literature, scripts, and other writing forms, as well as about dystopia, science fiction, horror novels, and other writing themes. Students will learn how to write drafts, provide peer feedback, revise from feedback, and proofread their writing. Students will prepare for the following competitions:
- New York Times Student Editorial Competition
- Write the World Poetry Writing Competition
- Ocean Awareness Contest
Students will experiment with three different genres and submit their finished work to these three writing competitions. Finished essays can also be included in future writing portfolios.
Instructor Introduction:
Teacher A – Creative Writing and Publishing Specialist
- Has extensive experience guiding students in writing competitions such as Scholastic and the New York Times. She has experience tutoring for 9 out of the 10 main writing categories of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
- 80% of the students in her 2020 Scholastic Writing Competition Prep classes won awards, with 6 Gold Key Awards, 1 Silver Key Award, and 9 Honorable Mentions.
- Has worked in the UK publishing industry for many years. Invited to give lectures to students at the Royal Opera House in central London and was commissioned by Oxford University to hold a summer workshop on drama and media studies.
- Holds an MA from the University of London and a BA in Creative Writing and English Literature.
Class Schedule:
16 hours in total, 8 group lessons, 2 hours each. Each class is from 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM Eastern Time.
Class Number and Date Held | Topic |
1 – February 27 | Competition Introduction, Brainstorm writing topics and learn argumentative essays |
2 – March 6 | Opinion Editorials — Rhetorical Devices and Central Arguments (for The New York Times) |
3 – March 10 | Opinion Editorial – Rebuttal Arguments and Structure (for The New York Times) |
4 – March 13 | Write the World: Poetry – Finding Form and Voice |
5 – March 17 | Write the World: Poetry – Structure and Poetic Language Devices |
6 – March 20 | Ocean Awareness Writing Contest – What is satire/parody and how can we apply it to the topic of climate change? (script/news) |
7 – March 27 | Ocean Awareness Writing Contest — Satire/Parody (Script/News) |
8 – April 3 | Ocean Awareness Writing Contest — Satire/Parody (Script/News) |
Suitable For:
Middle and high school students who want to participate in writing competitions.
