Two Mundelein High School juniors received The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards of 2020 from the Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development at the University of Iowa.

“According to their website, ‘The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards Program is the nation’s longest-running, largest and most prestigious recognition program for creative teens,’” said Laura Garcia, English 3 teacher who has the two teens in her class. During the past 95 years, the Awards have recognized and encouraged artists and writers such as Sylvia Plath, Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, Robert Redford, Tom Otterness and Zac Posen, among countless others.

Three different levels of awards are presented:  The Gold Key, The Silver Key, and Honorable Mention awards.

Daniel Carrasco earned a Gold Key Award for his poem, “Augilla.” Abby Hammer received an Honorable Mention for her poem “It’s Okay.” Both students wrote their poems during the Narrative Poetry Unit in their English 3 class.

More than 6,000 entries were submitted this year to the 2020 competition for students in grades 7-12. Gold Key works automatically advance to national judging with National Awards being announced March 16, 2020.

“Congratulations to both Daniel and Abby,” Garcia said.