The Alliance for Young Artists and Writers recently named three MSMS students — rising senior Savannah Massey and Class of 2024 graduates Sydney Beane and Ava Grace Noe — National Scholastic Award Medalists.
The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards Program is a prestigious and long-standing writing competition for middle and high schoolers in the United States. Participants can submit their original works in categories including poem, critical essay, film, photography, journalism and short story. The program provides an opportunity for students to gain regional and national recognition for their creativity.
Noe won a gold medal and the American Voices Award for her short play “I’ll Wear My Pearls” and received silver medals for her poem “Laundry Day” and short story “Morning Glory;” Beane won a gold medal for her personal essay “Black Magic;” and Massey won a silver medal for her personal essay “Drowning.”
The trio’s pieces were among 60 writing awards won by 22 MSMS students at the regional level. Eleven MSMS Gold Key Award winners — Sydney Beane, Noah Lee, Savannah Massey, Castlin Myers, Ava Grace Noe, Komal Patel, Kelvin Pool, Claire Rizzo, Nora Ruth Scott, Harrison Shao and Kayla Williams — advanced to the national level.
According to the Alliance, “more than 100,000 students entered nearly 340,000 original works of art and writing to the 2024 Scholastic Awards. [The winning pieces were] selected by some of the foremost leaders in the visual and literary arts for excellence in originality, skill and the emergence of a personal voice or vision. Fewer than 2,500 works received a National Medal.”
Noe said her journey to becoming a national medalist was unexpected but fulfilling.
“Being a national medalist is something that I never thought I would be able to achieve,” Noe said. “I remember last year crossing my fingers that I would get to say I’d received a Gold Key at the regional ceremony. Now after two years of hard work, I can say that I’ve achieved [something] beyond my wildest dreams.”
Noe attributed her success to the supportive environment at MSMS and her passion for theater.
“It is because of the mentorship of my peers and the faculty of MSMS that any of this was possible. It’s crazy that I’m going to be part of the people who keep theater alive, moving to new heights and inventing new techniques,” Noe said. “I don’t think I’ll ever be done [with writing].”
Creative Writing teacher Thomas Richardson said the students’ national recognition is the culmination of their hard work and talent.
“I’m thankful for these students and how seriously they take their craft,” Richardson said. “The creative writing world begets a lot of disappointment and vulnerability, but every so often, something like this happens that makes a writer want to keep going.”
