The Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School and Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy are proud to announce that, once again, its students are winners of the prestigious national Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, with 25 students receiving national recognition for their expertise in writing, photography and journalism. Students who received regional silver and gold medals will continue on to the national competition, where they may earn further recognition.
The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards is the nation’s largest and most impressive visual and literary arts contest of its kind, designed to recognize the artistic accomplishments of students in grades seven through 12. The Scholastic Art and Writing awards has inspired and nurtured creativity since 1923; previous contest winners include Andy Warhol, Sylvia Plath and Joyce Carol Oates, among other prominent writers and artists.
The Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School and the Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy encourage all students to find and develop their own unique voices as artists and writers. Many of the students’ entries initiated in English and Language Arts classrooms as assignments, often after students read, discussed, analyzed and then became inspired by works of great literature. Students worked to sharpen their craft inside and outside of the classroom, honing their skills with peers and teachers alike as they deliberated about how best to articulate their artistic vision. High school students submitted to Scholastic so that students could understand that writing is a journey saddled with peaks and curves. This was the first year that the RKYHS newspaper staff submitted articles previously published in The Voice, the student run high school newspaper. In the middle school, students in seventh and eighth grades submitted their work; many students submitted work that originated as classroom assignments but transformed into something more. Students across all grades were honored to see their work recognized in such a prestigious contest.
Virginia McEnerney, executive director of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers said, “We’ve learned over the years that for many teenagers, having their creative work recognized while still in school is the impetus they need to be lifelong creators, makers, and leaders. Encouraging teens to utilize art and writing to express their hopes, dreams and questions about the world has multiple and meaningful benefits. The collective output of these young innovators creates a portrait in time of our American identity and, for the teens, it reinforces the positive habits that come from creative self-expression.”
The Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School and Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy eagerly anticipate the outcome of the national awards process.
