The Scholastic Awards celebrated the 103rd class of Gold Medalists during Awards Week, June 9–11! Teens, their families, and their educators traveled from around the United States and Canada to New York City to honor this tremendous accomplishment. Check out our recap of the festivities!

June 9

The day started off at Check-In at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, where teens and educators picked up their medals and tickets to the National Ceremony at Carnegie Hall, purchased Scholastic Awards merch, and received free copies of this year’s publications featuring award-winning art and writing. During Check-In, teens dropped by an art-making studio facilitated by Community-Word Project, and later that evening, select teens read excerpts of their award-winning writing at the Open Mic, presented in collaboration with Writopia Lab.

After Day 1 of Check-In wrapped up, the space was transformed for Creative Careers: An Alumni Panel Discussion, which featured several alumni of the Awards who spoke about turning their love of art and writing as teens into creative careers.

The evening continued with a Mocktail Mixer for teens where they grabbed Scholastic Awards signature mocktails, played a game to win a prize, loaded up on snacks, and rocked out to tunes on the dance floor!

The night ended with the Empire State Building lit up in gold to celebrate the 2026 National Medalists!

June 10

Teens who received scholarships and educators were honored with special events. Educators heard from John “CRASH” Matos, a graffiti artist and illustrator who spoke about creativity in the classroom, while teen scholarship winners attended a breakfast where they were able to meet the funders of their scholarships.

After another round of check-in, it was finally time for the big event: the National Ceremony at Carnegie Hall! Hundreds of teens and their supporters filled the historic venue for a night of inspiring remarks from actor John Leguizamo and Alumni Achievement Award recipient Branden Jacobs-Jenkins.

June 11

Awards Week concluded with the National Exhibition, which was held at Scholastic Inc.’s headquarters in Manhattan. The exhibition space was transformed to showcase hundreds of works of art by this year’s National Medalists. Tours led by an educator in the arts were held to provide insight and context to the works.

Congratulations to the 2026 Scholastic Awards National Medalists! It was an unforgettable week, filled with core memories, creative connections, and tons of celebration. You are officially a Scholastic Art & Writing Awards alum! Be sure to follow us on LinkedIn to stay up-to-date on our alumni network!