Bergen County Students Win at 2014 Scholastic Art and Writing Competition

Nineteen students from The Elisabeth Morrow School (EMS) won regional awards in the 2014 Scholastic Art and Writing competition. Each year, more than 250,000 art and writing pieces are submitted by seventh through twelfth grade students across the country, Canada, and U.S. schools abroad. EMS students won with three art and 16 writing submissions, and one of the four regional Gold Key award winners, Claire Fink of Cresskill, New Jersey, won a National Gold Medal for her personal essay/memoir Braving Fear. Historically, the national gold medal winners represent the top 1% of entries.

EMS students also won eight silver keys, and seven honorable mentions.? Below are the writing award winners and the writing categories:

Defne Akyurek of Tenafly (7th): Gold Key (flash fiction); Silver Key (poetry)

Anne Choi of Englewood (7th): Silver Key (personal essay/ memoir)

Maxime Louis of Ridgewood (7th): Gold Key (poetry)

Christine Anagnos of Haworth (8th): Silver Key (personal essay/ memoir)

Claire Fink of Cresskill (8th): Gold Key (personal essay/memoir)

Regina Fink of Cresskill (8th): Silver Key (science fiction/ fantasy); Honorable Mention (personal essay/memoir)

Caroline Ju of Englewood Cliffs (8th): Honorable Mention (personal essay/ memoir)

Madeline Kachikian (8th): Silver Key (poetry)

Elena Latinsky-Ortiz of Bergenfield (8th): Honorable Mention (personal essay/ memoir)

Daniel Schwartz of Tenafly (8th): Gold Key (poetry); Silver Key (personal essay/ memoir)

Julia Stewart-Wood of Guttenberg (8th): Honorable Mention (personal essay/memoir)

Kira Trout of Tenafly (8th): Silver Key (personal essay/ memoir)

Emily Yu of Bogota (8th): Honorable Mention (personal essay/ memoir)

In the arts category, Madeline Kachikian of Hoboken (8th) won a Silver Key (photography) and two Honorable Mentions (photography)

In total, there were 58 EMS entries to the competition. "All of the students put forth tremendous effort to perfect their submissions. The students put their passion and energy into this competition, and they are really all winners," says their writing instructor Laura Khutorsky.

The Elisabeth Morrow School (EMS) is an independent country day school serving children, age three through eighth grade, from more than 70 communities throughout New Jersey and New York. EMS provides an innovative 21st-century curriculum focusing on critical thinking, collaboration, creativity and character development. The school's comprehensive secondary school placement process ensures graduates matriculate into premier day and boarding schools. Located on 14 wooded acres in Englewood, NJ, the EMS campus includes multiple technology and science labs, playgrounds, libraries, athletic facilities, nature trails and working gardens. Visit our website: www.elisabethmorrow.org.