Since 1923, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards have recognized the talent of our nation's youth, celebrating our creative teens and providing them with new opportunities. 300,000 students from across America submitted original works to Scholastic's 2015 program, hoping to be recognized for their art, writing, photography and contribution to film.
In the Milwaukee area, 174 entries were recognized just in the writing category alone, earning awards in categories like science fiction, poetry, essays and journalism. "They were giving scores for technical skills, creativity and how the stories and poems flowed," said Dasha Kelly, host of the Southeastern Wisconsin Scholastic Writing Awards Ceremony at the Stackner Cabaret Theater "It's an opportunity to celebrate these writers and the work they typically do huddled up in their room with a laptop, with no one else around."
Check out the story above to hear more from Nicolet High School senior Jessica Plotkin, who not only took home silver and gold awards for her writing that night, but the prestigious Gold Key award for the region. After, she went onto Nationals where she won an American Authors award, also won by writers Sylvia Plath and Truman Capote.
