The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards Competition is an annual prestigious literary and art competition. In this past year’s competition, over 80,000 students participated, with entry totals nearing 230,000 submissions through various mediums. Out of thousands of literary pieces, several Maggie Walker students earned high honors for their submissions into the contest: five students won Gold Keys for their writing submissions, four won Silver Keys, and two students received honorable mentions.

Ananya Gomatam (‘23) was awarded a Silver Key for her writing and received both a Gold Key and an American Voices Nomination for her poetry centered around her experiences as a teenager and her perspective on culture in American society. Sydney Brewer (‘24) received two awards for her submissions, winning a Gold Key for her science fiction piece, AI52334, and an honorable mention for her other submission, Melody of the Stars. 

Other Dragons received awards for pieces centering on small details with deeper meaning, like Natalie Koehn-Wu’s (‘24) The Flower-Shaped Crack, and Lauren Blake’s (‘24) Bus Stop, earning a Silver Key and Gold Key, respectively. Jeddah Arnold (‘22) received a Gold Key for her Flash Fiction piece, No Man’s Land, and an honorable mention for her personal essay, Wilbur. Aditya Badhrayan (‘26) was the only ninth-grader to receive a writing award, winning a Silver Key for his short story, Outskirts. Pooja Muthuraj (‘22) also earned a Gold Key for her personal essay, 11/5/2020, while Annabel Tang (‘23) earned a Silver Key for her personal essay, Here’s Your Payment, Uncle Sam.

Our Dragon Writers performed exceptionally well, racking up numerous accolades for our school, with outstanding performances in every category of writing. We are very proud of our Maggie Walker students, and whether they won an award or not, we hope they continue to inspire us all through their writing!