Oct 27, 2002 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – Waynesburg College is sponsoring the first Southwestern Pennsylvania Scholastic Art and Writing Awards competition for junior high and high school students in grades seven through 12 in Greene, Fayette, and Washington counties.

Now in its 80th year, the awards program is the largest and longest running recognition event for creative young people in the United States. Students can compete in 24 art and writing categories, including architecture and environmental design; ceramics and glass; graphic design; mixed media; photography; video, film, and animation; dramatic script; journalism; novel writing; personal essay/memoir; poetry; and short story.

Posters and information packets, with entry forms, are available in participating southwestern Pennsylvania schools.

Deadlines for the 2003 competition are Dec. 6 for writing entries and Feb. 1, 2003, for art entries.

“Creative students so often lack a stage upon which their hard work might be showcased and rewarded,” said Dr. Brad Gambill, assistant professor of English at Waynesburg College and co-chairman of the regional competition.

“The scholastic awards competition gives middle school and high school students that stage. I believe our region has some extremely talented writers and artists, and this will be their opportunity to shine. I feel very fortunate that Waynesburg College will play a role,” he added.

The awards program provides the opportunity for students interested in art and writing to compete on a regional and national level for cash awards and scholarships.

Award-winning regional work is sent to the national level to be judged by panels of distinguished artists, writers, educators and other art and writing professionals.

The national award recipients are then honored at an awards ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., in June.

Rebecca Gartley, a teacher at Benjamin Franklin Middle School in Uniontown, added, “Scholastic offers an opportunity for talented students to be recognized. These young kids begin to see that their proficiency in art or writing may take them somewhere in life.”

For more information, call Gambill at 724-852-3430 or log on to www.scholastic.com/artandwriting.

The schedule of events and deadlines for the awards are listed as follows:

n Oct. 31: Registration deadline for school districts to participate.

n Dec. 6: Writing entries postmarked due.

n Dec. 13: Writing entries hand-delivered to Waynesburg College due.

n Jan. 11: Regional judging for writing entries.

n Feb. 1: Art entries due to the Waynesburg College Benedum Fine Arts Center Gallery.

n Feb. 8: Regional judging for art entries.

n Feb. 3-16: Scholastic Art and Writing Awards exhibition, Waynesburg College Benedum Fine Arts Center Gallery and Performing Arts Center

n Feb. 16: Scholastic Art and Writing Awards Ceremony, 2 p.m., Waynesburg College Performing Arts Center. Keynote Speaker: Jim Daniels, poet and professor and director of Carnegie Mellon University’s creative writing program.

n June 2003: National Scholastic Art and Writing Awards ceremony, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C.