Waterford Students Earn
Regional 2024 Scholastic Writing & Art Awards

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards have recognized the vision, ingenuity, and talent of our nation’s youth, and provided opportunities for creative teens to be celebrated each year since 1923. An increasing number of teens participate in the program and become a part of this community—young artists and writers, filmmakers and photographers, poets and sculptors, video game artists and science fiction writers—along with countless educators who support and encourage the creative process.

Waterford’s talented students show passion and elevated standards in the work they submitted this year. The awards listed below are for our Western Region, which includes Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, Washington, and parts of California. The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards—the oldest and most prestigious program of its kind in the country—selects winning work for Gold Key, Silver Key and Honorable Mention awards. All Gold Key winners advance to the National competition; those results will be announced in mid-March. Seniors whose portfolios win the top National award receive a $10,000 scholarship.

Studio Art – 6 awards

2 Gold
2 Silver
2 Honorable Mention

Gold Key
Diane J. ’26 (2) – Childhood Memory, Summertime Stroll

Silver Key
Diane J. ’26 (2)

Honorable Mention
Annika M. ’24
Jerry J. ’27

Photography – 67 awards

13 Gold
21 Silver
33 Honorable Mention

Gold Key
Lucy C. ’24 – Weaving
Ethan B. ’24 – Things Forgotten
Marie F. ’24 – Desert Glow
Jerry X. ’26 – Tunnel in Tunnel
Molly M. ’24 (3) – Dissection, Sheep, The Mouse
Evie H. ’26 (2) – Dark Windows, Beauty Close and Afar
Rowan H. ’24 – Reflections
Halle P. ’24 (2) – Harmony, 5 AM Crew
Jerry J. ’27 (2) – Freedom, Chromatic Joy

Silver Key
Lucy C. ’24 (2)
Raneem A. ’26 (2)
Georgie A. ’26
Jack K. ’25 (2)
Marie F. ’24 (3)
Jerry X. ’26 (2)
Molly M. ’24 (4)
Rowan H. ’24 (2)
Ryan L. ’24 (2)
Leila F. ’24
Halle P. ’24
Jerry J. ’27

Honorable Mention
Lucy C. ’24 (2)
Preston J. ’25 (2)
Redmond R. ’24 (4) (*Portfolio)
Jessica M. ’27
Raneem A. ’26 (3)
Rowan K. ’27
Tyler A. ’24
Ethan B. ’24
Jack K. ’25 (2)
Zada S. ’24 (2)
Marie F. ’24
Vitalia S. ’27 (2)
Nora R. ’24
Jerry X. ’26 (2)
Molly M. ’24 (4) (*Portfolio)
Ryan L. ’24
Leila F. ’24 (3) (*Portfolio)
Halle P. ’24

Writing – 10 awards

2 Gold
3 Silver
5 Honorable Mention

Gold Key
Jerry X. ’26 – “A Traveler’s Experience to a Comrade” (Poetry)
Reese B. ’27 – “A Breath” (Poetry)

Silver Key
Vitalia S. ’27 (Personal Essay & Memoir)
Zia F. ’27(Personal Essay & Memoir)
Jerry J. ’27 (Journalism)

Honorable Mention
Lake Wadsworth ’28 (Personal Essay & Memoir)
Zia F. ’27 (2) (Poetry)
Anni W. ’24 (Poetry)
Cash L. ’24 (Personal Essay & Memoir)

“A Breath” – Reese B. ’27

IN. OUT. IN. OUT.

alone in the dark, you let the air come.

IN. OUT. IN. OUT.

you breathe in and you see the air before you transform.

IN. OUT. IN. OUT.

with no place to call home, you have no place to go.

IN. OUT. IN. OUT.

as the air before you seems to cease, you open your eyes and expand once more.

IN. OUT. IN. OUT.

you reset the timer, you redefine life.

IN. OUT. IN. OUT.

the chilly, crisp fog. the warm, dense air.

IN. OUT. IN. OUT.

we are all the same down here.

IN. OUT. IN. OUT.

they put us in boxes and they shut down our doors.

IN. OUT. IN. OUT.

they make us feel different 			            	but alas, different we are.

IN. OUT. IN. OUT.

down where we are, down where no one dares to look.

IN. OUT. IN. OUT.

those who don't breathe become those who don't live.

IN. OUT. IN. OUT.

they push us aside, 
tell us: don't laugh, don't sing.

IN. OUT. IN. OUT.

they silence our voices, our tears, our fears.

IN. OUT. IN. OUT.

they put us in masks and cover our lungs.

IN. OUT. IN. OUT.

"be quiet, dear. there's no room for you here."

IN. OUT. IN. OUT.

they yell, they curse, they hurt. until what's left?

IN. OUT. IN. OUT.

but a silent breath 					stuck out in the cold.

IN. OUT. IN. 										AND OUT...

“A Traveler’s Experience to a Comrade” – Jerry X. ’26

When you say a fork in a golden wood doth cleave,
Who said one traveler could not travel both?
For a traveler, who in imagination oft achieves 
The ability to both ways perceive 
What lies past the bend in the undergrowth;

Why take the other, if it is just as fair,
Is travel on the first path not deserved?
Quite surely both paths desire wear;
What good does it do you to compare 
If the outcome remains undisturbed?

Why choose the latter on that fateful day,
If both paths were in leaves equally dressed?
Why be so easily led astray 
By sudden desire of grassy display?
For a choice made impulsively is not oft the best

Look at the misfortune that has befallen you,
That makes you breathe such gusty sighs;
Two roads in a wood, though you knew—
What lay beyond, you still went through 
By taking the wood less traveled by.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE INCREDIBLE HARD WORK PUT IN BY WATERFORD STUDENTS TO EARN THIS RECOGNITION.

Please click here to see a gallery of the Regional Gold Key Visual Arts winners.