Arts Academy students excel in 2025 regional Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
77 students from six of the Academy’s artistic divisions won a total of 255 awards—including four of the West Central Michigan region’s five coveted American Visions nominations.
Seventy-seven Interlochen Arts Academy students from six of the institution’s artistic divisions received a total of 255 awards in the 2025 regional Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.
This year, Academy students submitted creative writing works to the Midwest Writing Division, which is administered by the Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development at the University of Iowa. Thirty-four Arts Academy students from five artistic divisions were among the Creative Writing award winners. Academy Creative Writing majors received a total of 120 awards: 36 Gold Keys, 32 Silver Keys, and 52 Honorable Mentions. Winners from other majors include Interdisciplinary Arts students Bianca Chen, Grace Choi, Rue Cohen, and Assyl Rassulkyzy; Film & New Media students Theo Entrekin, Abigail Giroux, Maxwell Wang, and Kennison Zeppernick; Music students Alice Song and Violet Taylor; and Theatre students Noah Adler and Madeline Pace.
Visual artwork was submitted to the West Central Michigan Art region, which is administered by the Gwen Frostic School of Art at Western Michigan University. Academy Visual Arts students earned a total of 101 awards, including 30 Gold Keys, 32 Silver Keys, and 39 Honorable Mentions. Olivia Broadrick, Asher Lasky, and Maya Tzonev received three of the West Central Michigan region’s coveted American Visions nominations, which are presented to the five best visual artworks from the region.
Other Visual Arts award winners include Film & New Media students Abigail Giroux and Maxwell Wang; Interdisciplinary Arts major Grace Choi; and Theatre major Katherine Desel Dolan. Giroux, Wang, and Choi all won awards in both Creative Writing and Visual Arts categories of the competition. Additionally, Giroux received an American Visions nomination for her film “The Little Toymaker.”
Regional award winners will be honored during awards celebrations hosted by the competition’s regional partners in late March. Gold Key-winning works will advance to the national level of the competition, where they will be reviewed by a panel of expert judges for consideration for medals, cash prizes, and scholarships of up to $12,500. National medalists will be announced on March 26, 2025.
Established in 1923, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards is the nation’s longest-running, most prestigious recognition program for creative teens. Students in grades 7-12 are invited to submit works of art and writing in 28 categories for judging by accomplished artists and arts educators. Notable alumni of the program include actor and director Robert Redford; artist Andy Warhol; author Stephen King; director Ken Burns; and poet Amanda Gorman.
See below for a full list of winners:
Creative Writing Awards
- Noah Adler - 1 Gold Key
- Violet Baker - 1 Gold Key, 1 Silver Key, 1 Honorable Mention
- Ema Bekic - 2 Gold Keys, 2 Silver Keys, Honorable Mention
- Bianca Chen - 1 Silver Key, 1 Honorable Mention
- Emmy Chen - 1 Silver Key, 2 Honorable Mentions
- Grace Choi - 2 Gold Keys, 1 Silver Key, 2 Honorable Mentions
- Rue Cohen - 1 Honorable Mention
- Quinn De Vecchi - 1 Gold Key, 2 Honorable Mentions
- Victoria Deckard - 2 Gold Keys, 4 Silver Keys, 7 Honorable Mentions
- Iliana Demas - 7 Gold Keys, 3 Silver Keys, 3 Honorable Mentions
- Savannah Driver - 4 Honorable Mentions
- Theo Entrekin - 1 Gold Key
- Andi Erickson - 3 Gold Keys, 4 Silver Keys, 2 Honorable Mentions
- Abigail Giroux - 1 Gold Key, 1 Silver Key, 2 Honorable Mentions
- Jack Hennessy - 1 Honorable Mention
- Addison Hill - 2 Gold Keys, 1 Silver Key, 5 Honorable Mention
- Saba Jana-Worku - 1 Gold Key, 2 Honorable Mentions
- Camryn Joyce - 1 Gold Key, 2 Silver Keys, 4 Honorable Mentions
- Aanya Khairari - 2 Honorable Mentions
- Seal Kirtley - 1 Gold Key, 2 Silver Keys, 2 Honorable Mentions
- Alisha McMillan - 1 Gold Key, 1 Silver Key, 1 Honorable Mention
- Blondine Moree - 2 Silver Keys, 1 Honorable Mention
- Madeline Pace - 1 Honorable Mention
- Assyl Rassulkyzy - 2 Gold Keys, 1 Silver Key, 1 Honorable Mention
- Seneca Reimer - 1 Honorable Mention
- Bella Rotker - 11 Gold Keys, 4 Silver Keys, 7 Honorable Mentions
- Alice Song - 1 Silver Key
- Addie Sparks - 2 Silver Keys, 1 Honorable Mention
- Rhegan Stallworth - 1 Gold Key, 1 Silver Key, 1 Honorable Mention
- Alexander Stillwell - 1 Gold Key, 1 Silver Key
- Violet Taylor - 1 Silver Key
- Jada Walker - 1 Gold Key, 1 Silver Key, 2 Honorable Mentions
- Maxwell Wang - 1 Silver Key
- Kennison Zeppernick - 1 Honorable Mention
Visual Arts Awards
- Katia Acosta-Mikulasek - 1 Gold Key
- Alex Adams - 1 Silver Key
- Zoe Bartholomew - 1 Silver Key
- Olivia Broadrick - 1 Gold Key, American Visions nomination
- Nina Chai - 1 Gold Key
- Grace Choi - 1 Silver Key, 3 Honorable Mentions
- Angela Corbitt - 1 Silver Key
- Caroline Daniels - 1 Honorable Mention
- Katherine Desel Dolan - 1 Honorable Mention
- Naomi Driver - 1 Silver Key, 1 Honorable Mention
- Sheena Geisen - 1 Honorable Mention
- Abigail Giroux - 2 Gold Keys, 1 Silver Key, 2 Honorable Mentions, American Visions nomination
- Charlotte Gray - 1 Gold Key, 1 Honorable Mention
- Hazel Groves - 4 Gold Keys, 2 Silver Keys, 2 Honorable Mentions
- Emily Guo - 2 Gold Keys, 3 Silver Keys
- Ivy Hale - 1 Silver Key, Honorable Mention
- Bridget Han - 2 Gold Keys
- Kylee Henderson - 2 Honorable Mentions
- Jessie Huang - 1 Silver Key, 1 Honorable Mention
- Clementine Huck - 1 Silver Key
- Willa Kurtz - 1 Silver Key, 1 Honorable Mention
- Asher Lasky - 1 Gold Key, 1 Silver Key, 1 Honorable Mention, American Visions nomination
- Jong-Lynn Lee - 1 Silver Key,1 Honorable Mention
- Oliver Ma - 1 Silver Key, 2 Honorable Mentions
- Stella Martin - 2 Honorable Mentions
- Sadie Mason - 1 Gold Key
- Leo Mathur de Olivier - 1 Silver Key, 2 Honorable Mentions
- Margaret Moise - 1 Honorable Mention
- Lila Mosberger - 2 Gold Keys, 2 Silver Keys
- Hana Nishi - 1 Gold Key, 2 Honorable Mentions
- Aruzhan Nugmanova - 2 Silver Keys, 3 Honorable Mentions
- Ava Pecora - 2 Gold Keys, 2 Silver Keys
- Anya Penherski - 1 Gold Key, 1 Silver Key, 1 Honorable Mention
- Jack Perkins - 1 Silver Key, 1 Honorable Mention
- Katherine Rosenblum - 1 Silver Key
- Stella Blu Signorelli - 1 Gold Key, 2 Honorable Mentions
- Chloe Snell - 3 Gold Keys, 2 Honorable Mentions
- Andrea Specketer - 1 Gold Key, 1 Honorable Mention
- Giselle Swann - 1 Gold Key, 2 Silver Keys, 2 Honorable Mentions
- Maya Tzonev - 2 Gold Keys, 2 Silver Keys, 1 Honorable Mention, American Visions nomination
- Violeta Vilchis - 1 Silver Key
- Maxwell Wang - 1 Gold Key
- Peggy Wang - 1 Honorable Mention
- Bradom Zhang - 1 Silver Key, 3 Honorable Mentions
- Yichen Zhang - 1 Gold Key
- Haisong Zhao - 1 Gold Key
