Greenwood Student Artist Wins Gold and Silver in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards

Leah Qi ‘26 is in good company as one of the newest winners of a Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards is the longest running and most prestigious recognition program of creative pursuits for youth in both the USA and Canada. Students from Grades 7 to 12 can submit artwork for any of the 28 judged categories such as drawing, flash fiction, jewellery, sculpture and critical essay writing. Since 1923, the Scholastic Awards have helped to inspire bold ideas from creative teens. Notable past winners include Sylvia Plath, Amanda Gorman, Stephen King and Andy Warhol. Submissions are anonymized and the winners are determined by a panel of judges for originality, presence of vision and skill. 

Leah first learned about the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards last year from her mother who encouraged her to apply. “I procrastinated quite a bit before submitting last September,” Leah remembers. “But mostly because I wanted to find a piece that I felt most confident about and what would represent my culture.” She finally decided upon submitting her previously drawn art piece, Potala Palace, which depicts the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. “It’s a very famous landmark and I felt it represented my culture as well,” says Leah. 

She ran into a small stumbling block when she was ready to submit her piece through the Scholastic Awards’ online portal – the portal crashed. Luckily for her, the issue was widespread and the organizers extended the deadline for submissions. She received news in late March that she won the Gold Key in the Regional Awards, which automatically advanced her entry for the National Awards. Then in June, she learned that her entry received the Silver Medal at the National Awards. Fewer than 2,500 entries receive a medal, which places her artwork in the top 8% of the nearly 340,000 creative entries received from more than 100,000 students. 

Leah is excited to submit artwork again for the 2025 Scholastic Awards. “I’ve definitely learned from last time to not procrastinate as much!” Leah adds. The deadline is December 5, which means there are 43 days left. Go Leah!