Each year, the Scholastic Awards Summer (SAS) Scholarship Program provides students who have been recognized by the Scholastic Awards with need- and merit-based scholarships to summer art and writing programs. From late January to mid-March, students who received a Gold or Silver Key in the current Awards year craft their SAS Scholarship application, including a selection of their best works and an essay on their approach to art or writing, and we work with our SAS Scholarship partners to place students in a program that will best match their availability and nurture their creative journey.
SAS Scholarships are made possible by the Garcia Family Foundation and our more than 30 partners, each of whom reserves one or more seats in their summer community for a Scholastic Award–winning student. Partners are located across the country and provide a wide range of offerings, from painting intensives and glasswork studios to journalism, environmental studies, and poetry writing immersions. With a year of virtual instruction under their belts already, they have done an incredible job pivoting their programming to the present reality, whether that means all-virtual, hybrid, or a safe return to in-person.
Our SAS Scholarship recipients, too, represent all regions, backgrounds, and areas of creative interest. This year, our more than 60 scholarship recipients—chosen from a pool of more than 1,700 applicants—hail from every corner of the country, from California to Connecticut, Washington to Wisconsin, and Nevada to New York. They received Gold and Silver Keys in categories from Flash Fiction to Photography and Science Fiction to Sculpture. Without the support of a SAS Scholarship, many would not have had the financial resources to attend a summer program on their own, and we’re excited to be able to provide them with the transformative experience of in-depth, individualized instruction alongside a group of like-minded peers.
Each year, scholarship recipients tell us that their program helped them gain confidence in their work, build lasting connections with peers, and even shift their view of their creative practice from a hobby to a potential life path. Partners, too, consistently report that their SAS Scholarship students are gifted, motivated participants in the (literal or virtual) classroom—a testament to the strength and potential of the Scholastic Awards community.
We send best wishes to our students and partners for a summer filled with growth, creativity, and joy.
To learn more about becoming a SAS Partner, contact Talya Phelps at talya@artandwriting.org.
Featured image: Isabella Newman, Girls of Camp Kupugani, Photography. Grade 12, Appomattox Regional Governor’s School, Chesterfield, VA. Gail Giewont, Educator.