This edited post originally appeared on Scholastic’s On Our Minds blog. By Lia Zneimer.
With more than 230,000 submissions, the Scholastic Awards’ 90th Anniversary year attracted more participants than ever before, and next week, more than 800 of the 1,600+ talented teens who received national honors will make their way to New York City to attend the National Scholastic Art & Writing Awards Ceremony at Carnegie Hall. There, the students will share the spotlight with actress and arts advocate Sarah Jessica Parker and fashion designer Zac Posen, who won a Scholastic Award in 1999 and will be presented with the 2013 Alumni Achievement Award. To top it all off, First Lady Michelle Obama and actress Lena Dunham of Girls (also an Awards alumna) will offer their congratulations via video. Plus–as if this news could possibly get more exciting–the Carnegie Hall ceremony will be webcast LIVE in honor of the Awards’ 90th anniversary so that people across the nation can share in the celebration! For more information on how to register for the live webcast–or to hold an Awards viewing party in your hometown–check out this blog post.
The national celebration kicks off on May 31 when two giant Times Square screens at 1515 Broadway will feature the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards throughout the day, and the Empire State Building will be lit in gold to honor the student winners. That evening, national medalists and their teachers will be honored at world-famous Carnegie Hall, and the following day, the Awards’ National Student Exhibition will open at Parsons The New School for Design and Pratt Manhattan Gallery. Select Award-winning student art and writing will be on display through June 15, 2013, and starting in the fall, a traveling exhibit of student work entitled ART. WRITE. NOW. will visit cities across the United States. (The exhibition and accompanying public programs are co-sponsored by the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at Parsons The New School for Design.) You can view examples of this year’s Award-winning artwork here.
Be sure to join in the national celebration via social media by following us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr. (Don’t forget to use the hashtag #AWawards!) And check out some of our favorite photos of past ceremonies from our Archives here!
Congratulations to all the winners and students across the country who submitted their art and writing this year. We can’t wait to celebrate your accomplishments next week!