Forty-one students from Rye Country Day School were honored for their outstanding original work with Gold Key, Silver Key, and Honorable Mention Designations in this year’s Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. 

Known as the nation’s longest-running, most prestigious recognition program for creative teens in Grades 7 through 12, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are judged by luminaries in the visual and literary arts. 

Congratulations, Wildcats!

*Students who are enrolled in the RCDS Middle School at the time of publication are listed with their first names and last initials.

ART AWARDS

Alexa Chua ’26
Nice to Meet You - Comic Art - Silver Key
Breezy Escape - Digital Art - Gold Key 

Grace F. ’29
Real Killer - Mixed Media - Honorable Mention 

May Hakimizadeh ’27 
Portrait of Lady Macbeth - Digital Art - Silver Key
Pocketed - Digital Art - Silver Key

Sophia Lynch ’25
Soda Can Dress - Fashion - Gold Key

Emmy Liang ’28
Hippe Chick - Drawing & Illustration - Gold Key

C.C. Liu ’28
The Museum - Painting - Honorable Mention

Emma Maini ’27
Silent Witness - Drawing & Illustration - Honorable Mention 

Felix Mao ’27
Hold the Hands That Once Held You - Drawing & Illustration - Gold Key
Puppets - Mixed Media - Gold Key

Juliette Moore ’27
Reflections - Photography - Gold Key
Camels - Photography - Gold Key
Looking from Above - Photography - Silver Key
Food is Ready - Photography - Honorable Mention
Crossing the Street - Photography - Honorable Mention
Watching You - Photography -  Honorable Mention
Crystal Petals - Ceramics & Glass - Silver Key
Rosy Reflections - Ceramics & Glass - Honorable Mention
Endangered - Design - Silver Key
Thinking - Drawing & Illustration - Silver Key
Timeless Beauty - Painting - Honorable Mention

Sebastian Nogueira ’25
Day Off - Photography - Gold Key
Spotted - Photography - Gold Key
Colorful Bouquet - Photography - Gold Key
Delivery - Photography - Gold Key
Lady with a Red Hat - Photography - God Key

Daphne Panie ’27
Impressions of Serenity - Photography - Silver Key
A New Beginning - Photography - Honorable Mention
Timeless Might - Photography - Honorable Mention

Leo Roth ’25
PolyNation - Architecture & Industrial Design - Silver Key
Re:Fuel - Architecture & Industrial Design - Honorable Mention

James Song ’25
Architecture & Industrial Design - Honorable Mention
Architecture & Industrial Design - Honorable Mention
Architecture & Industrial Design - Honorable Mention

Melody Wu ’28
Embrace Change - Editorial Cartoon - Silver Key

Jade Z. ’29 
Behind the Glass - Painting - Gold Key

Leon Zhou ’26
Photography - Gold Key
Photography - Honorable Mention

WRITING AWARD

Aarush Dey ’27
Silence - Poetry - Silver Key        
The Paradox of Love - Poetry - Honorable Mention

James Ding ’26
Social, Political, and Economic Changes in the Jacksonian Era - Critical Essay - Honorable Mention

Jaymin Ding ’25
Industrialization as the Agent of Change in American Society - Critical Essay - Gold Key
Coming to America - Personal Essay & Memoir - Gold Key
The Things I've Lost - Personal Essay & Memoir - Silver Key
Timeless City - Personal Essay & Memoir - Honorable Mention

Lincoln Feng ’26
As If Belonging Could Be Held - Poetry - Gold Key
For my mother - Poetry - Gold Key
American Dream - Poetry - Silver Key

Amanda Gui ’27
What Goes Unnoticed - Poetry - Honorable Mention

May Hakimizadeh ’27
Crossing the Line: The Line Becomes a River and the True Cost of Border Enforcement - Critical Essay - Gold Key
The Complexity of Abigail Williams in The Crucible - Critical Essay - Gold Key
Hands Across The Beige Desk - Personal Essay & Memoir - Silver Key
How Many Times - Personal Essay & Memoir - Silver Key
A Sound Is Still A Sound Around No One - Poetry - Honorable Mention
One Hundred Loud Poems - Poetry - Honorable Mention
These Marathons - Poetry - Honorable Mention
Will There Be Refreshments? - Poetry - Honorable Mention

Val He ’27
Ascendance of the Crane You Flew On - Poetry - Honorable Mention
burnt eggs to toothbrushes - Poetry - Silver Key

Sadie Kolodner ’28
Peace and Justice - Critical Essay - Honorable Mention

Bianca Arencibia ’28
So Usually Unusual - Personal Essay & Memoir - Honorable Mention

Rahul Arora ’25
Seva: My Guiding Ethos in the Era of Artificial Intelligence - Personal Essay & Memoir - Silver Key

Chloe B. ’29
Set in Stone - Novel Writing - Honorable Mention
The First Half - Personal Essay & Memoir - Honorable Mention

Illaria Liedtke ’27
The Great Age of Costco Enlightenment - Personal Essay & Memoir - Honorable Mention
Eulogy for Wax Wings - Poetry - Gold Key

Felix Mao ’27    
Pantoum of Baseball - Poetry - Silver Key

Marguerite McDonald ’27    
the things i inherited - Poetry - Silver Key

Juliette Moore ’27
The Conflicts of Leadership - Critical Essay - Honorable Mention
The Inhumanity of Border Control - Critical Essay - Silver Key

Ambika Nott ’25
Girl of Glass - Flash Fiction - Gold Key
Stardust Melodies and Sorrowed Souls - Science Fiction & Fantasy - Honorable Mention        

Daphné Panié ’27
Honors American Identity - Poetry - Gold Key
The Clock is Ticking - Poetry, Silver Key
A powerful French heritage - Poetry - Honorable Mention

Helena P. ’29
Where I'm From - Poetry - Honorable Mention

Isabela Pierry ’25    
remember? - Poetry - Honorable Mention

Olivia P. ’29
Goodbye, World - Poetry - Honorable Mention    
My Last Words to You - Poetry - Gold Key
Where I'm From - Poetry - Honorable Mention

Leo Roth ’25
Testimony, Performance, and Protest in a Media Ecology: The Power of the Pen in A Burning by Megha Majumdar - Critical Essay - Honorable Mention

Sophia Shen ’26
@Emerson_Davis - Short Story - Honorable Mention    

Nico Stefanoni ’25
For the Benefit of Mankind - Short Story, Gold Key

Alexandra Steyn ’27
Spiraling, Destitute, Dark - Science Fiction & Fantasy - Gold Key
In A Sisterly Spider's Web - Personal Essay & Memoir - Gold Key
Am Yisrael Chai - Poetry - Silver Key
Imperfect Perfection (Yet Opposite) - Short Story - Silver Key
Improving Peasants’ Lives One Revolution at a Time: Mexico - Critical Essay - Silver Key
Searching For Starlight - Flash Fiction - Silver Key
Justice Never Charts a Straight Path: A Dive Into The Crucible's Representation of Reverend Hale - Critical Essay - Honorable Mention
An Ode to Salmon - Personal Essay & Memoir - Honorable Mention
Drops of Sweetness Never Linger - Short Story - Honorable Mention
Forbidden Oasis - Short Story - Honorable Mention

Qian Wei ’26    
When Justice Fails: Lesson from Serial - Critical Essay - Silver Key

Tancrede Weinstein ’27
Garden in the Ruins - Poetry - Gold Key

Emma W. ’29    
Social Media Storm - Dramatic Script - Gold Key
To Write is to Feel Seen - Personal Essay & Memoir - Silver Key
I've Always Hated my Room - Poetry - Gold Key
Acid Rain - Science Fiction & Fantasy - Honorable Mention    
Tick Tock, Cuckoo Clock - Science Fiction & Fantasy - Gold Key

Aiden Wu ’27
Booger Noodles - Personal Essay & Memoir - Silver Key

Leon Zhou ’26
Breaking the Stream of Anonymity: Humanity in the Border Crisis - Critical Essay - Honorable Mention