Forty-three Shady Side Academy students in grades 7-12 won 2023 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards for 96 original works, including 20 Gold Keys, 31 Silver Keys and 45 Honorable Mentions. The 20 Gold Key-winning works by 14 students will advance to the national Scholastic Art & Writing Awards competition, and national medalists will be announced in March.

Nineteen students won 60 art awards from the Pittsburgh Arts Region: 10 Gold Keys, 16 Silver Keys and 34 Honorable Mentions. Regional art winners will be recognized at an exhibition and awards ceremony on Saturday, Feb. 25, at Carnegie Mellon University’s Hall of Fine Arts.

Twenty-eight students won 36 writing awards from the Pittsburgh Writing Region: 10 Gold Keys, 11 Silver Keys and 6 Honorable Mentions. One of the Gold Key-winning works, Wonder Girl, by sophomore Sarah Voigt, was also nominated for the American Voices Award. Information about a regional writing awards ceremony is TBD.

Four students won regional awards in both art and writing: sophomore Cathy Jin, junior Sophia Sandholm, eighth grader Hanna Singhi and sophomore Sunny Zhao.

Gold Key Winners in Art

• Junior Sophia Jho – 2 Gold Keys for In Retrospect (Painting) and Introspection (Painting), plus 1 Honorable Mention
• Junior Yuntong Pan – 1 Gold Key for To Mom, Grandpa, Adai and Icecream (Painting)
• Senior Maria Schwendeman – 2 Gold Keys for Breathing, Trying, Drowning (Painting) and Finding Me (Art Portfolio), plus 5 Silver Keys and 4 Honorable Mentions
• Senior Larry Wang – 1 Gold Key for A Trace of History (Architecture & Industrial Design), plus 2 Silver Keys and 3 Honorable Mentions
• Sophomore Tessie Wong – 1 Gold Key for Sage (Digital Art), plus 1 Silver Key
• Sophomore Sunny Zhao – 3 Gold Keys for when does hope become denial? (Digital Art), Self-Deception (Digital Art) and A Silent Glow (Photography), plus 1 Silver Key – Also won 1 Gold Key and 1 Silver Key in writing (as noted below)

Gold Key Winners in Writing

• Eighth grader Jack Bitsoff – 1 Gold Key for A Breath of Water (Personal Essay & Memoir)
• Junior Alex Chow - 1 Gold Key for Mauvalia (Science Fiction & Fantasy)
• Senior Elaine Gombos – 1 Gold Key for From Enemies to Lovers: Japanese War Brides and Their Influence on Multiculturalism in the United States (Critical Essay)
• Sophomore Avery Litwin – 1 Gold Key for Petty Thief (Short Story)
• Junior Otis Liu – 1 Gold Key for CRIBaby (Novel Writing)
• Eighth grader Hanna Singhi – 1 Gold Key for Asian or American: Racism in American Society (Critical Essay), plus 1 Honorable Mention – also won 2 Honorable Mentions in art
• Sophomore Sarah Voigt – 1 Gold Key + American Voices Award nomination for Wonder Girl (Flash Fiction); 1 Gold Key for Ode to Anna (Poetry)
• Eighth grader Brandon Wu – 1 Gold Key for Skiing Off a Canyon (Kind Of) (Personal Essay & Memoir)
• Sophomore Sunny Zhao – 1 Gold Key for it’s only imaginary if we let it be (Short Story), plus 1 Silver Key – Also won 3 Gold Keys and 1 Silver Key in art (as noted above)

Other Student Winners:

• Eighth grader Alexander Bi – 1 Silver Key in writing
• Junior Benjamin Bischoff – 1 Honorable Mention in art
• Senior Carson Curley – 1 Honorable Mention in art
• Junior Julia Dlugosz – 1 Silver Key in art
• Eighth grader Ahmed Elsayed – 1 Silver Key in writing
• Eighth grader Zoe Freyberg – 1 Honorable Mention in writing
• Eighth grader Eva Friedlander – 3 Silver Keys and 1 Honorable Mention in writing
• Sophomore Sophia Gombos – 1 Silver Key in writing
• Eighth grader Gabriela Gutierrez-Bustos – 1 Honorable Mention in writing
• Eighth Grader Claudia Iannetti – 1 Honorable Mention in writing
• Eighth grader Hollie Husband – 1 Honorable Mention in art
• Sophomore Cathy Jin – 3 Honorable Mentions in art; 1 Silver Key and 1 Honorable Mention in writing
• Freshman Faaris Kamal – 1 Honorable Mention in writing
• Senior Chelsea Kaufmann – 2 Silver Keys in art
• Sophomore Christo Kennedy – 2 Honorable Mentions in art
• Eighth grader Roshan Kshirsagr – 1 Silver Key in writing
• Sophomore Tania Liao – 1 Silver Key and 1 Honorable Mention in art
• Eighth grader Anna Litster – 1 Silver Key and 2 Honorable Mentions in art
• Seventh grader Uma Pathe – 2 Honorable Mentions in art
• Eighth grader Breslyn Plesh Stock-Bratina – 1 Silver Key in writing
• Junior Leo Rickard – 1 Silver Key in writing
• Junior Parker Roscoe – 3 Honorable Mentions in art
• Junior Sophia Sandholm – 2 Silver Keys and 8 Honorable Mentions in art; 1 Silver Key in writing
• Eighth grader Anna Grace Shultz – 1 Honorable Mention in writing
• Senior Monica Singh – 1 Silver Key in writing
• Eighth grader Özge Uzman – 1 Silver Key and 1 Honorable Mention in writing
• Eighth grader Nola Vadnais – 1 Silver Key in writing
• Sophomore Amy Xing – 1 Honorable Mention in writing
• Freshman Neeta Yechoor – 1 Honorable Mention in writing

See the full list of all SSA student winners and their award-winning works (PDF).

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards is the nation’s longest-running, most prestigious recognition program for creative teens. Teens in grades 7-12 can apply in 28 categories of art and writing, and submissions are judged regionally and nationally by panels of creative industry experts. Learn more at www.artandwriting.org/awards/.

Congratulations to all and good luck to our Gold Key winners in the national awards competition!

View images of some of the Gold Key-winning artwork here.