Five junior high school students from the Three Village Central School District were celebrated for their outstanding writing skills this winter as they were named Scholastic Writing Regional Award winners in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards contest sponsored by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. 

This year’s honorees include R.C. Murphy Junior High School students: 

Melody Wang – Gold Key for Poetry: “Your Marionette”
Charley Du – Silver Key for Flash Fiction: “A Body Named Martin”
Sammi Feil – Silver Key for Flash Fiction: “1 Prisoner”
Ava Tam – Honorable Mention for Personal Essay and Memoir: “A Musical Realization”

As well as P.J. Gelinas Junior High School ninth grader: 

Ava Della Pietra – Gold Key for her Personal Essay and Memoir: “Then and Now”

As Gold Key winners, Melody and Ava will now advance to the national competition, where their original works will be judged based on three criteria: originality, technical skill and emergence of a personal vision or voice. National awards will be announced in March. 

Since 1923 the Scholastic Awards have recognized some of America’s most celebrated artists when they were teenagers. Past honorees include Stephen King, Joyce Carol Oats, Andy Warhol and Charles White.