Writers enter works in contests
Photo by Kia Harlan
by Joshua Bolus
Members of Spartans of the Plume won awards in the Scholastic Art and Writing Competition and are planning to participate in the spring contests, competitions and creative opportunities.
Winning in poetry, art, and photography in the Scholastic Art and Writing Competition are freshmen Maria Alvarez, Paige Ayale, Daniel David Jonson, Alejandra Navarro, Yanisha Tovar and Jesus Zambrano, sophomore Brianna Banuelos, and juniors Britney Chavez and Kia Harlan. The works submitted by these members are now available in the magazine, Commerce Connection.
The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards is one of the longest-running recognition programs for teenagers, grades nine through twelve, where over 300,000 works are submitted and more than 90,000 are chosen.
“Being the secretary of Spartans of the Plumes club helped me achieve my goals as a writer and artist by allowing me to try my best on my work,” said Andrea Garcia, sophomore. “Writing and drawing is my way to express my feelings and tell stories from my past.”
In addition to these awards, students have works that have been selected to be in the Creative Communications anthology from the Fall of 2017 National Poetry Competition: freshmen are Katherine Alvarado, Ayale, Ricardo Cabral, Iran Guerra, Andrea Ruiz and sophomore Amber Ruiz. The photographer, Natasha Young (freshman), earned a Western Regional Silver Key, the second highest regional honor, and three honorable mentions in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards National Competitions.
“The day that the awards for Scholastic Art and Writing were scheduled to be released, Ms. Harbison and I scrambled to try to find the results. I was surprised and overjoyed to learn that I won Silver Key,” said Young. “I had no training in photography; I don’t know how to use filters.” English teacher Harbison is the club adviser.