Over 30 students from Rye Country Day School were honored with Gold Key, Silver Key, and Honorable Mention Designations in this year’s Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Students created and submitted original works showcasing their platform of expression. 

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! 

Sorin Alexander ’24
Elijah’s Brother (Short Story) - Honorable Mention
Whispers of a Wind Gone Past (Short Story) - Silver Key

Rahul Arora ’24
The Impact of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Algorithmic Trading (Critical Essay) - Honorable Mention

Eleanor Brown ’25
A Sermon of Struggle (Personal Essay & Memoir) - Honorable Mention
Celia (Poetry) - Silver Key
Who I have become (Personal Essay & Memoir) - Honorable Mention

Ellen Chen ’24    
1984 (Play Poster Design) - Silver Key 
Boundaries Broken (Painting) - Silver Key 
Charity Exhibition (Poster Design) - Gold Key
Childhood Memory (Comic Art) - Gold Key
Dance with Her (Painting) -  Gold Key 
Emotional Convergence (Painting) - Honorable Mention 
Forgotten Past (Painting) - Gold Key 
GMO (Design) - Honorable Mention
Silent Identity (Painting) - Honorable Mention
Sunken Memory (Painting) - Silver Key
Timeless Waters 2 (Portfolio) - Gold Key
The Unmasked (Painting) - Honorable Mention
Transcendence beyond the Disconnect (Critical Essay) - Honorable Mention
Unknown Desolation (Painting) - Silver Key

Davis Clarke ’25
Monet: Art Through the Ages; poem 3: Le Pont Japonais (Poetry) - Honorable Mention        
Monet: Art Through the Ages; poem 4: Nymphéas (Poetry) - Honorable Mention

Willow Edwards ’25
Cornflowers and a Monarch (Ceramics & Glass) - Silver Key  

Celine Fong ’24
In sleep; do you still turn away from America? (Personal Essay & Memoir) - Honorable Mention
lamentation no. 2 (Poetry) - Honorable Mention
Painting the Wallpaper Yellow: The Persevering Role of Art on Protest Media (Critical Essay) - Honorable Mention

Amanda Gui ’27
Spike of Resilience (Personal Essay & Memoir) - Honorable Mention

Julia Heintz ’25
Blooms in Frost (Ceramics & Glass) - Silver Key 

Isabella Jolicouer ’25
The House In the Woods (Short Story) - Honorable Mention

Zara Khemlani ‘27
The Space In Between (Poetry) - Honorable Mention
Solitude (Photography) - Honorable Mention
Walking through History (Photography) - Honorable Mention

Illaria Liedtke ’27
All the Puddles (Poetry) - Gold Key
Chicken Nuggets and American Dreams (Poetry) - Silver Key
gluttony (Poetry) - Silver Key    
Goosebumps (Poetry) - Honorable Mention
Wheat Erases Our Footprints (Poetry) - Silver Key

C.C. L. '28 
Happiness (Drawing & Illustration) - Silver Key

Felix Mao '27
Toy Gun, Real Wounds (Painting) - Honorable Mention
Trapped (Mixed Media) - Gold Key
Wanna Play, Another Match - (Digital Art) - Gold Key

Juliette Moore ’27
Where I'm from (Poetry) - Honorable Mention
Navigating the Crowd (Photography) - Gold Key
Washed Away (Drawing & Illustration) - Gold Key
A Quiet Place (Photography) - Silver Key
Nature's Balance (Photography) - Silver Key
Life and Death (Painting) - Silver Key
Village Stroll (Painting) - Silver Key
A Late Night (Drawing & Illustration) - Silver Key
Abandoned Workspace (Photography) - Honorable Mention
A Slow Day (Photography) - Honorable Mention
Mercato Del Pesce (Photography) - Honorable Mention
Awakening (Photography) - Honorable Mention
Morning Hues (Painting) - Honorable Mention

Stephen Mulderry ’25
Second Chance (Science Fiction & Fantasy) - Honorable Mention

Ambika Nott ’25
Addiction (Flash Fiction) - Silver Key    
Cracking Moons (Poetry) - Honorable Mention
Fairies Like Sad Things (Science Fiction & Fantasy) - Silver Key
Nothing But Faith (Short Story) - Silver Key

Daphné Panié ’27
Signed Gallia (Poetry) - Honorable Mention

Isabela Pierry ’25
My Faceless Faces (Poetry) - Honorable Mention
Unraveling the Harmonious Paradoxes in "Sula" (Critical Essay) - Silver Key

Carter Richert ’25
Asian Hate: MLK-Styled Letter (Personal Essay & Memoir) - Honorable Mention

Leo Roth ’25
Discordant Geographies: A Rhetorical Analysis of The Line Becomes A River by Francisco Cantú (Critical Essay) - Honorable Mention
Ethan Frome: An Antiquated Arcadia (Critical Essay) - Honorable Mention    
Growing Season (Poetry) - Honorable Mention
Icarian / I; Carrion (Poetry) - Silver Key
Material Ecologies and Biotech Architectures: Redefining Sustainability for Planetary Health (Critical Essay) - Gold Key
Pay The Bill (Poetry) - Honorable Mention
Promised Lands; Invisible Hands; and the Socially Constructed Environment in Under the Feet of Jesus (Critical Essay) - Silver Key
Sonnet for the First Robot (Poetry) - Honorable Mention
The Highway (Poetry) - Silver Key    
The Left Half of a Black Hole (Poetry) - Silver Key

Zoe Roth ’25
Elizabeth Bishop’s Incongruity of Memory in Geography III (Critical Essay) - Honorable Mention    
One Light Never Stay (Poetry) - Honorable Mention

Jude Sadler '25
Sgraffito Psychedelia (Ceramics & Glass) - Silver Key 
Floral Fungi (Ceramics & Glass) - Gold Key 

Sophia Shen ’26
A Sweet Goodbye to 小卖店 (Personal Essay & Memoir) - Silver Key

Alexandra Steyn ’27
Antigone: The Contrast between Duty and Morality (Critical Essay) - Silver Key
Burning Bright (Personal Essay & Memoir) - Honorable Mention
Diary of a Foolish Woman (Flash Fiction) - Silver Key
Freedom of All Speech: Locke vs Rousseau (Critical Essay) - Silver Key
Ignoring Individual Needs: Machiavelli; Hobbes; and Rousseau (Critical Essay) - Silver Key
The Power of Starlight (Short Story) - Silver Key
Treacherous Plots (Flash Fiction) - Honorable Mention

Sophia T. ’28
I had a Cat for Four Days (Personal Essay & Memoir) - Gold Key

Robert Wang ’25
En garde; prêt-allez! (Personal Essay & Memoir) - Honorable Mention

Qian Wei ’26
A dance of resilience (Poetry) - Gold Key
The Underestimated Existential Threat of Artificial Intelligence: Unveiling Risks in Employment; Privacy; and Weaponry (Critical Essay) - Honorable Mention

Emma W. ’29
Caulfield (Personal Essay & Memoir) - Silver Key
Chapter 5 - Elise - From the Novel "The Woods Undercover Academy" (Novel Writing) - Silver Key
Little Baby Flora (Poetry) - Honorable Mention
Salty Air and Elmer's Glue (Personal Essay & Memoir) - Honorable Mention
The Plague - My Sister Six Feet Under and the Girl in the Streets (Science Fiction & Fantasy) - Silver Key
The Last Date (Dramatic Script) - Gold Key

Melody W. '28
Technical Barrier (Editorial Cartoon sponsored by the Herb Block Foundation) - Gold Key 
Virtruvian Student (Editorial Cartoon sponsored by the Herb Block Foundation) - Silver Key 
The Tortoise and the Hare (Comic Art) -  Honorable Mention
Home Sweet Home (Editorial Cartoon sponsored by the Herb Block Foundation) -  Honorable Mention
Virtual Reality (Editorial Cartoon sponsored by the Herb Block Foundation)  -   Honorable Mention  
Hometown Summer (Drawing & Illustration) - Honorable Mention 
Remote Learning (Drawing & Illustration) -  Honorable Mention   

Jenny Xu ’27
Inside the Tapestry (Poetry) - Honorable Mention

Donna Zhang ’24
Enough (Poetry) - Silver Key
immortal (Poetry) - Honorable Mention
Haibun of a Girl (Poetry) - Honorable Mention
Still Life of Orange (Poetry) - Honorable Mention

Keira Zheng ’25
One Ghost; Two Ghosts; White Ghosts; Yellow Ghosts (Critical Essay) - Silver Key
Never A Good War (Critical Essay) - Honorable Mention
Yellow Was My Favorite Color (Personal Essay & Memoir) - Gold Key