Upper school students win national gold and silver medals in Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, more than 60 recognized

On March 13, senior Raymond Banke and junior Kathy Fang were named national gold medalists in the 2019 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Banke won for his piece in the Future New category, titled “American Dreamers,” and Fang for her critical essay “A New Woman: A Rediscovery of Women’s Roles in Shakespeare’s The Tempest.” They are the first Harker students to receive the honor since Xinyi “Cherry” Xie ‘12 in 2012.

As national medalists, both students are now eligible to attend the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards national events in New York City in June. The national events include a ceremony at Carnegie Hall and an exhibition featuring the works of top honorees. Earlier this year, Banke received a total of 16 regional awards, including Gold Keys in printmaking, design and art portfolio, as well as Silver Keys in architectural and industrial design, sculpture, printmaking and photography. His nine honorable mentions were awarded for two works each in drawing and illustration and mixed media, as well as submissions in the art portfolio, painting, sculpture, printmaking, and architecture and industrial design categories. In addition to her Mold Medal, Fang also received a regional Gold Key for her essay and two honorable mentions for photography.

Three other students also received national recognition in the form of silver medals. Junior Eric Fang won in photography for his piece, titled “Into the Unknown”; Anna Gert, also a junior, won for her critical essay “Illnesses in Frankenstein: An Explication of Victor’s Recurring Sickness”; and senior Alexander Young’s “A Iaccian Sestina” won in the poetry category.

A total of 64 upper school students were recognized in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards this year, receiving regional Gold Keys, Silver Keys and honorable mentions.

Upper school students recognized in visual arts are:

Cynthia Chen, grade 11: Gold Key (Digital Art), Silver Key (printmaking), honorable mention (painting)

Katelyn Chen, grade 11: Three honorable mentions (one for mixed media, two for drawing and illustration)

Elizaveta Egorova, grade 12: Three Gold Keys (one for digital media, two for design), three Silver Keys (digital art) and two honorable mentions (comic art and digital art)

Eric Fang, grade 11: Gold Key (photography)

Kathy Fang, grade 11: Two honorable mentions (photography)

Anna Gert, grade 11: Gold Key (painting)

Lilia Gonzales, grade 12: Gold Key (digital art)

Rose Guan, grade 12: Two honorable mentions (photography)

Ellen Guo, grade 11: Two honorable mentions (painting, and drawing and illustration)

Susan He, grade 12: Two Gold Keys (digital art), honorable mention (drawing and illustration)

Grace Huang, grade 11: Honorable mention (digital art)

Katrina Liou, grade 12: Two Silver Keys (sculpture, mixed media), two honorable mentions (mixed media, and drawing and illustration)

Adrian Ma, grade 12: Gold Key (painting), two honorable mentions (painting, printmaking)

Annie Ma, grade 11: Two Gold Keys (photography), Silver Key (photography), honorable mention (photography)

Devanshi Mehta, grade 12: Three honorable mentions (design, painting, photography)

Gina Partridge, grade 11: Honorable mention (printmaking)

Andrew Skrobak, grade 12: Silver Key (art portfolio)

Maria Teplova, grade 10: Silver Key (painting)

Nellie Tonev, grade 11: Silver Key (painting)

Zara Vakath, grade 11: Honorable mention (painting)

Anna Wang, grade 12: Gold Key (digital art), Silver Key (sculpture)

Catherine Wang, grade 12: Silver Key (painting), three honorable mentions (art portfolio, sculpture, and drawing and illustration)

Esther Wu, grade 9: Gold Key (photography), five Silver Keys (photography)

Stephanie Xiao, grade 12: Silver Key (photography)

Alina Yuan, grade 9: Two Silver Keys (drawing and illustration, and photography)

Alex Zhai, grade 10: Four Gold Keys (photography), Silver Key (photography), three honorable mentions (photography)

Joshua Zhou, grade 11: Four honorable mentions (photography)

Gloria Zhu, grade 9: Silver Key (drawing and illustration)

Upper school students who won recognition in literary categories are:

Prena Ahcaryya, grade 11: Honorable mention (flash fiction)

Chandan Aggarwal, grade 11: Honorable mention (critical essay)

Raymond Banke, grade 12: Gold Key (critical essay)

Eva Chang, grade 11: Honorable mention (science fiction/fantasy)

Cynthia Chen, grade 11: Honorable mention (poetry)

Emily Cheng, grade 11: Honorable mention (personal essay/memoir)

Ishani Cheshire, grade 12: Two Silver Keys (flash fiction, science fiction/fantasy), honorable mention (poetry)

Kaitlyn Dai, grade 11: Silver Key (personal essay/memoir)

Eric Fang, grade 11: Honorable mention (personal essay/memoir)

Kathy Fang, grade 11: Gold Key (critical essay)

Anika Fuloria, grade 10: Honorable mention (critical essay)

Anna Gert, grade 11: Gold Key (critical essay), Silver Key (critical essay)

Aditi Ghalsasi, grade 11: Honorable mention (personal essay/memoir)

Sophia Gottfried, grade 10: Honorable mention (poetry)

Victoria Han, grade 9: Silver Key (poetry)

Catherine He, grade 9: Honorable mention (poetry)

Angela Jia, grade 9: Honorable mention (flash fiction)

Vivian Jin, grade 10: Five honorable mentions (three for poetry, one for flash fiction, one for personal essay/memoir)

Jeffrey Liu, grade 11: Honorable mention (flash fiction)

Andrew Lu, grade 10: Silver Key (critical essay)

Carolyn Lu, grade 11: Honorable mention (personal essay/memoir)

Annie Ma, grade 11: Two Silver Keys (poetry, critical essay), honorable mention (critical essay)

Kalyan Narayanan, grade 11: Silver Key (poetry)

Luisa Pan, grade 10: Honorable mention (personal essay/memoir)

Annabelle Perng, grade 12: Two honorable mentions (poetry, science fiction/fantasy)

Amla Rashingkar, grade 11: Honorable mention (short story)

Michael Tang, grade 11: Honorable mention (flash fiction)

Betsy Tian, grade 10: Silver Key (personal essay/memoir), honorable mention (poetry)

Nicole Tian, grade 9: Silver Key (critical essay)

Nellie Tonev, grade 11: Silver Key (critical essay), honorable mention (personal essay/memoir)

Larissa Tyagi, grade 10: Honorable mention (personal essay/memoir)

Nerine Uyanik, grade 11: Silver Key (personal essay/memoir)

Annamma Vazhaeparambil, grade 10: Silver Key (journalism), two honorable mentions (journalism)

Lily Wancewicz, grade 12: Gold Key (short story), Silver Key (flash fiction), honorable mention (flash fiction)

Bryan Wang, grade 11: Honorable mention (critical essay)

Daniel Wang, grade 10: Gold Key (personal essay/memoir)

Shania Wang, grade 12: Two Silver Keys (critical essay), honorable mention (critical essay)

Dylan Williams, grade 10: Silver Key (personal essay/memoir)

Alexander Young, grade 12: Two Gold Keys (poetry, flash fiction), six honorable mentions (two for poetry, two for personal essay/memoir, humor, writing portfolio)

Alina Yuan, grade 9: Honorable mention (flash fiction)

Irene Yuan, grade 9: Two Silver Keys (short story, flash fiction)

Elaine Zhai, grade 10: Honorable mention (poetry)

Katherine Zhang, grade 12: Three honorable mentions (journalism, two for poetry)

A previous version of this story mistakenly omitted Kathy Fang’s Gold Medal win as well as this year’s Silver Medal winners. Harker News apologizes for the error.