Writopia Lab DC has announced the D.C. area recipients of the 2016 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. This year, four Holton students, Yasmin Alamdeen '17, Anjali Berdia '17, Caroline McDonald '16, and Shea Sion '17 received recognition.
Directed by The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers for the past 93 years, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards has become one of the most prestigious recognition programs for creative teens in the United States. The panelists look for pieces that best align with the Awards' core values of originality, technical skill, and personal voice or vision. Each submission is read and reviewed by one of the expert jurors including novelists, poets, playwrights, librarians, editors, educators, journalists, and other professional writers. This year, the D.C. area judges were challenged with selecting recipients from a pool of more than 1,500 works.
Alamdeen was recognized with a Silver Key for her poem "Paradise at the End of a Stick." Berdia received an Honorable Mention for her personal essay called "Code Red." The recipient of two awards, McDonald won an Honorable Mention for her writing portfolio called "Everyday Phenomena" which included four pieces and a Silver Key for her personal essay "Take Me Home." While she is still waiting to hear back from the judges about her novel titled Turaris, Sion received an Honorable Mention for her poem "It's Crowded in Here." Both Almadeen and Sion have received recognition in this competition for the past several years.
The DC Metro Scholastic Writing Awards Ceremony will be held on March 6, 2016 at the Gala Theatre in Washington, DC.