Meet the Teens Who Received the Highest Honors in the 2022 Scholastic Awards

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards provide recognition and scholarships to creative teens, empowering them to share their voices and visions with the world. Our highest honors are reserved for graduating seniors who can apply to our Art Portfolio and Writing Portfolio categories. Art Portfolios must contain six works that communicate a single cohesive idea or visual investigation while Writing Portfolios should include six works that demonstrate versatility as a writer and diversity in writing techniques and styles.

Gold Medal Portfolio Awards

We’re pleased to honor the twenty-two graduating seniors—eleven artists and eleven writers—listed below who received the Gold Medal Portfolio Award. In addition to the award, they each will receive a $10,000 scholarship. We’ll be profiling all of the Gold Medal Portfolio Award winners on our blog for the next few weeks—follow along!

Art Portfolio

Apple TV+ Art Portfolio Award
Franchesca Vilmenay, Boston, MA

Blick Art Materials Art Portfolio Award
Hayden Brashear, Denver, CO

Jill and Peter Kraus Art Portfolio Award
Tess Nelson, Eden Prairie, MN

The Maurice R. Robinson Fund Art Portfolio Award
Mac Barnes, Durham, NC

Roome Fund Art Portfolio Award
Lorie Chen, Troy, MI

Scholastic Inc. Art Portfolio Award
Dessa Ely, Toronto, ON

Alliance for Young Artists & Writers Art Portfolio Awards
Lily Arnold, Franklin, TN
Gina Bae, Palo Alto, CA
Ava Hudson, Portland, OR
Shaeley Lincoln, Towson, MD
Andrew Palmer, Richmond, VA

Writing Portfolio

Command Companies Writing Portfolio Award
Serene Almehmi, Vestavia, AL

Cora Bidwell Writing Portfolio Awards
Samantha Aikman, Jericho, VT
Claudia Comini, APO, AFE

Lindenmeyr Writing Portfolio Award
Maya McFadden, Jackson, MS

The Maurice R. Robinson Writing Portfolio Award
Amina Adeyola, Chesterfield, VA

The New York Times Writing Portfolio Awards
Mukta Dharmapurikar, Durham, NC
William Meng, Novi, MI

Scholastic Inc. Writing Portfolio Award
Ashley Binstock, Wahoo, NE

Alliance for Young Artists & Writers Writing Portfolio Awards
Dakota Ouellette, Vernon, CT
Deja Robinson, New Orleans, LA
Trini Rogando, Alexandria, VA

Silver Medal with Distinction Portfolio Awards

The Silver Medal with Distinction Portfolio Award is given to portfolios that demonstrate originality, technical skill, and the emergence of a personal voice or vision. The twenty-nine graduating seniors listed below will each receive a $1,000 scholarship.

Art Portfolio

Bertelsmann Printing Group USA Art Portfolio Award
Abigail Sparks, Juneau, AK

Edelman Art Portfolio Award
Hajer Al-Eid, Lincoln, NE

Ernst & Young Art Portfolio
Yunjie Zhu, Willoughby, OH

Grafica Veneta Portfolio Award
Polly Edwards, Nashville, TN

HP, Inc. Art Portfolio Award
Yeily Rodriguez, Miami, FL

New York Life Foundation Art Portfolio Award
Rebekah Williamson,
United States Air Force Academy, CO

Pentagram Art Portfolio Award
Adam Miller, Corvallis, OR

Quad Art Portfolio Award
Amelia Dickson, Saint Paul, MN

Stroock Art Portfolio Award
Fina Mooney, Minneapolis, MN

Alliance for Young Artists & Writers Art Portfolio Awards
Mellina Desilvio, Syracuse, NY
Lily Gregoire, Andover, MA
Aiden Itsalapron, King of Prussia, PA
Dallas Lawson, Floyds Knobs, IN
Yizhou Liao, Wilmington, DE
Vallery Orr, Houston, TX
Alison Wan, Alexandria, VA
Yoo Min Whang, Leonia, NJ
Han Zheng, Woodstock, CT

Writing Portfolio

BR Printers Writing Portfolio Award
Zoey Reay-Ellers, Interlochen, MI

Resolute Forest Products Writing Portfolio Award
Annika Crum, Kelowna, BC

Stroock Writing Portfolio Award
Samreen Khan, San Ramon, CA

Alliance for Young Artists & Writers Writing Portfolio Awards
Taeyeon Han, Irvine, CA
Caden Heiser-Cerrato, Towson, MD
Mariam Khan, Spring, TX
Kaylin Maher, Vernon, CT
Ava Stockstad, West Fargo, ND
Jessica Wang, Cold Spring Harbor, NY
Katrina Wright, Boise, ID
Lisa Zhang, Charlotte, NC

Congratulations to these talented teens and to all of the students who participated in the 2022 Scholastic Awards!