Groton students earn 76 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards

Thirty-six Groton students have won seventy-six Scholastic Art and Writing awards this year, including twenty-two gold keys, the highest regional honor.

The gold key for art portfolio is one of the highest awards in Scholastics, and Groton had two winners this year. Paopao Zhang ’24 won a gold key for her portfolio, “Raw’,” one of eight awards earned by Paopao in total. Her “Studio” and “A Day in the Life” won gold keys in Drawing & Illustration and “The Herd” won gold in Painting. In addition, Paopao’s paintings won a silver key for “Pull Yourself Together” and honorable mentions for “Passage of Time,” “Fire; Smoke; Iron,” and “The Golden Lining.”

Zimo Liu ’24 also won a portfolio gold key for “Identity Unveiled: Art Knows No Wall.” Zimo’s sculpture “A Strange Stone” also won honorable mention.

 

In addition, Sagata Das ’25 won the prestigious Herb Block Foundation Editorial Cartoon gold key for “Dress for Success . . . and Survival.”

 

Amanda Chang ’26 won gold keys for Short Story (“Hanging Gardens”) and Critical Essay “The Influence of White Ideals in Their Eyes Were Watching God” and six awards in total. Amanda’s “The Idea of Heritage and ‘Her’itage” won silver in Critical Essay and her “Beau Vinity” (Short Story), “Mianus River Bridge” (Poetry), and “Murder: Unjustified by Mental Illness” (Critical Essay) all won honorable mention.

Holly Bradsher ’26 won awards in both visual arts and writing. Her “The Transcendental Connection: The Evolution of Sanskrit and its Influence on the Modern World” earned silver in Critical Essay, while her photography work won silver (“Mark the View”) and three honorable mentions (“Helado Frigopie,” “I’m Here!,” and “Taj: Eternal Symmetry). 

Evelyn Cai ’27 won a gold key for her painting “Influence Depends on Perspective” and honorable mentions in Mixed Media (“Freedom is Slavery”), Drawing & Illustration (“Making the Rounds”), and Design (“Revelation”).

 

Guaiguai Zhang ’28 earned four honorable mentions for “Passengers,” “Picnic Time,” and “A Longspur” (all Drawing & Illustration), and for her painting “Pumpkin Season.” 

 

Max Fan ’25 won three awards for his writing. Max’s “My Father’s Chess Game” earned silver in Personal Essay & Memoir, and his “Confession and Reflection: Comparing and Contrasting Expressions of Love in This Is Just To Say and Morning Love Poem” and “Divergent Ideologies in Fantastical Worlds won Critical Essay honorable mentions.

 

Chloe Han ’25 won gold keys in Dramatic Script for “(Her)Story” and Poetry for “halmoni’s hands.” Her “ERROR: Unknown Variable” won silver for Poetry.

Michael Lu ’24 earned silver keys for his “Fishing For The Past” (Short Story) and “Liftoff” (Poetry). Micahel’s “Conversation With a Friend” also won honorable mention in Poetry.

Madison St. Clair ’24 brought home one of each award, winning gold key for “Nopapa and the Museum of Madness” (Personal Essay & Memoir), silver for “111 Tower Road” (Poetry), and honorable mention for “Girls at Play” (Poetry).

 

Kristin Qin ’27 won three painting awards: a gold key for her “Corner of the Street” and honorable mentions for “Bugged City” and “Mother of Wi-Fi.”

 

Several other students were awarded multiple keys. Kevin Cai ’26 won honorable mention for “The Art of Obsession” (Short Story) and “The Impending Tug-of-War: Brain-Computer Interfaces” (Journalism). Liv Ding ’26 won a gold key in Humor for “Good Proverbs Tom” and a silver in Short Story for “Pale Gods.”

Alexandra Kwon ’27 won gold keys for Critical Essay with “The Price of White Gold” and Short Story with “The Cherry Tree.” Evan Khym ’24 won gold for “Asian (Hopefully) American: The Case of the Struggling Immigrant” (Critical Essay) and honorable mention for “A Fair Fare: Art in Motion” (Personal Essay & Memoir).

 

Ava Meyer ’26 won two awards for her photography, with “Untitled” getting silver and “Woodshop” earning honorable mention. Lindy Zhang ’25 won two silver keys in Critical Essays for her “The Search For Self-Actualization: Symbolism of Road and Water in Never Let Me Go” and “Jay Gatsby: The Failed American Dream.” And Cheyenne Zheng ’26 also won twice for photography: “Big Little Child” got gold and “Who Are You? Where Did You Come From?” earned honorable mention.

 

Seventeen additional students received awards for their writing or visual art. Gold key winners were Ella Farahnakian ’25 (Short Story), Hannah Gally ’25 (Painting), Alicia Guo ’24 (Personal Essay & Memoir), and Sydney Nelson ’26 (Short Story).

Winning silver keys were Eric Ge ’24 (Personal Essay & Memoir), Jiwoo Han ’24 (Photography), and David Yu ’28 (Personal Essay & Memoir).