The creativity and hard work of Harker students translated into significant success in this year’s Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Student artist Vladimir Sepetov, grade 12, won a Gold Key, two Silver Keys and two honorable mentions at the regional level and was awarded a Silver Medal at the national level in the mixed media category. Jessica Lin, grade 11, won a silver medal in the Novel Writing category. Junior Jessica Shen received two honorable mentions in the regional competition. As national winners, both Lin and Sepetov were invited to attend a special ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City to receive their awards.

In the writing portion, Cindy Tay, grade 11, was recently named a regional Gold Key medalist in the personal essay category. Three other student writers – Emily Wang, Justin Gerard and Shelby Rorabaugh, all grade 10 – received Merit awards.

Held every year by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards contest recognizes high school students in the United States, Canada and in overseas American schools with interests in the visual and literary arts. This year’s contest had 185,000 entries.