Two Rippowam Cisqua School students have been recognized nationally by the
Scholastic Art and Writing Awards of 2015. Seventh grader Cameron Hackett and eighth grader Sarah Bonnem have been identified by panels of creative professionals as among the most talented young writers in the nation. This year, over 300,000 works of art and writing were submitted. Only the top 1% were recognized at the national level. Submissions spanned 28 categories, including flash fiction, comic art, poetry, jewelry, science fiction and fantasy, sculpture, novel writing, and video game design.
RCS 7th grader Cameron Hackett received a National Silver Medal in the Personal Essay/Memoir category for his essay, “A Window to Another World.”
RCS 8th grader Sarah Bonnem received a National Silver Medal in the Poetry category for her poem, “Cut it Out.”
The nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, which administers the awards, will honor Cameron, Sarah, and other national winners at a ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City on June 11.
The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards is the country’s oldest and most prestigious awards and recognition program for creative teenagers. Over the 92-year history of the program, Scholastic Awards recipients have included Andy Warhol, Sylvia Plath, Truman Capote, Richard Avedon, Ken Burns, Lena Dunham, Robert Redford, and Joyce Carol Oates.