Seven Hills Resident Earns Regional Scholastic Writing Award

A Seven Hills  resident is among eight Birchwood School of Hawken students who earned regional writing recognition from the prestigious Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. All of the Birchwood winners are in the eighth grade.

The winning Birchwood student from Seven Hills is:

  • Haadeya Salman, whose Science Fiction & Fantasy entry “The Escape” earned her an Honorable Mention.

Taught by language arts subject specialists Lorraine Tzeng and Jennifer Seward, Salman and the other Birchwood students garnered two Gold Key, one Silver Key and five Honorable Mention awards.

Students delve deep into the writing process in preparation for the competition, according to Seward. “They devote about six weeks to conceiving an original idea, drafting a piece, then painstakingly revising it, as true writers do,” she said. “That’s an accomplishment in itself! For this group of students to also receive these distinctive recognitions is such triumphant validation of their creativity and perseverance.”

The other winning students from Birchwood are:

  • Ashton Khoury’s flash fiction entry “The Love for the Game” earned him Gold Key honors.

  • Ishika Chand earned Honorable Mention honors for her Short Story entry “A Name is More Than a Label.”

  • Joshua Gordon received a Gold Key for his Flash Fiction (up to 1,400 words) entry titled “For Civilization.” 

  • Caroline Lu won a Silver Key in the Personal Essay & Memoir category for her piece, “Atropa Belladonna.”

  • Honorable Mention status went to Ayat Jaffar for her Personal Essay & Memoir submission, “An Everlasting Friendship.”

  • Stephen Parrino took home an Honorable Mention in the Science Fiction & Fantasy category for his story “Bland Land.”

  • Jonathan Samulak brought home an Honorable Mention in the Science Fiction & Fantasy category for his story “Imagine You Were Dan.”

Works are judged on originality, technical skill and emergence of personal vision or voice.

Each work of art and writing is blindly adjudicated, first locally through the more than 100 affiliates of the Alliance, and then nationally by panels of judges comprised of renowned artists, authors, educators and industry experts.

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards recognize student achievement in the visual and literary arts in 28 categories, including drawing and illustration, photography, flash fiction, poetry, film and animation, journalism and more.

Founded in 1923, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards is the nation’s longest-running, most prestigious educational initiative supporting student achievement in the visual and literary arts. The program has an impressive legacy of being the first to acknowledge creative talent and is today’s largest source of scholarships for creative teens.

The awards are open to creative teenagers in grades seven through 12 from public, private and home schools throughout the U.S. and its territories, as well as American-run schools abroad and students who make art and writing through community organizations.

For more information on the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, visit Scholastic.com.

Birchwood School of Hawken is a private, coeducational school in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1984, Birchwood serves students in kindergarten through 8th grade. Birchwood's mission is to equip children to lead a life of becoming – growing, thriving and flourishing – through the development of intellect and character.

birchwoodschool.org

Thomas Mulloy

Mulloy is a marketing associate and teaches 5th & 6th grade social studies.

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Volume 15, Issue 4, Posted 12:13 PM, 04.01.2023