Fairfax County Public School students won 50 Gold Key awards in the 2022 Regional Scholastic Writing Awards competition. A total of 226 Gold Key, Silver Key and Honorable Mention awards were won by FCPS students.
Thanisha Chowdury, a student at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology, was named an American Voices Nominee for her flash fiction, “Heavenbound,” and Trini Rogando, also a student at Thomas Jefferson, was named an American Voices Nominee for her personal essay. and memoir, “The Effect of First Love on Religious Decay”.
The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, presented by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, is the largest and oldest recognition program of its kind in the country. Writing categories include critical essay, dramatic screenplay, flash fiction, humor, journalism, novel writing, personal essay and memoir, poetry, science fiction, and fantasy , short story and writing portfolio.
Students in the Sun Gazette coverage area who received top awards included:
• From Langley High School: Jenna Cai, Golden Key for “Four Glimpses of Grandpa” (poetry); Tracy Gong, Golden Key for “Username: Crunchy Rabbit” (short story); Peyton Walcott, Gold Key for “The Killer Whale: A Cost-Effective Solution to Single-Use Plastics” (critical essay).
• From Luther Jackson High School: Joonwon Lee, Golden Key for “Scarce Water: Innovative Ways to Quench Your Thirst” (critical essay).
• From McLean High School: Marley Derienzo, Gold Key for “Ongoing Plans” (Flash Fiction); Minsong Ha, Gold Key for “Kyrie Irving on Basketball Courts and the Internet” (critical essay); Youngjae Kim, golden key for “The Russian conquest of Crimea in 2014: a canary in a coal mine or the end of an era? (Critical Essay); Jennifer Li, gold key for “Face” (Flash Fiction); Jennifer Li, Golden Key for “ABC” (personal essay and memoir); Zhiyi Li, golden key for “An invisible message: behind censorship and the democratization of cultural media” (critical essay); Ellen Pan, Golden Key for “Forget Me, Forget Me Not” (short story); Olivia Zhang, Gold Key) for “The Grief Exam” (personal essay and dissertation); Aileen Zhao, Golden Key for “The Genesis” (poetry); Aileen Zhao, Golden Key for “Eden: A Game of Choices” (short story); Jiayin Zou, golden key for “Calm Down” (personal essay and memoir).
• From Oakton High School: Eric Chen, Golden Key to “Ending Modern Slavery by Targeting Enabling Environments and Addressing Victim Vulnerabilities” (critical essay); Chloe Lee, Golden Key for “Hope to Restart” (poetry).
• From Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology: Arya Adake, Gold Key for “By Women, For ‘Women’ (poetry); Gold Key and American Voices nominee Thanisha Chowdhury for “Heavenbound” (Flash Fiction); Thanisha Chowdhury, Golden Key for “Least Common Factor” (Flash Fiction); Thanisha Chowdhury, Golden Key for “Noah” (Science Fiction & Fantasy); Grace Guan, Golden Key for “Bean Sprouts” (personal essay and memoir); Richa Gupta, Golden Key for “All Good Things Come to an End” (personal essay and memoir); Riva Jain, Golden Key for “Lost and Found” (drama script); Hannah Liu, Golden Key for “Time Telescope” (Poetry); Jessica May, golden key for “The complete guide to being a couple at school” (humor); Spencer Miller, Gold Key for “Senior Research Project, Science Fiction & Fantasy; Archana Parameswaran, golden key for “Happy New Year” (personal essay and memoir); Kiari Quevedo, Golden Key for “Who We Could Be” (poetry); Trini Rogando, Clé d’Or for “a conversation about a frog dissected / charged by the crucifix on the classroom wall” (Poetry); Trini Rogando, Golden Key for “First-Gen Poet as Percussion Rehearsal” (poetry); Trini Rogando, Golden Key for “Listen” (Writing Portfolio); Trini Rogando, Gold Key and American Voices nominee for “The Effect of First Love on Religious Decay”; Trini Rogando, Golden Key for “Fundamental Biology” (Writing Portfolio); Trini Rogando, Golden Key for “Holy Haibun in Las Vegas” (poetry); Trini Rogando, Golden Key for “Ghazal for “a confession of love” (poetry); Trini Rogando, Golden Key for “Oscar Wilde talked about aesthetics” (Poetry); Lillian Sun, Golden Key for “Purple Corn” (personal essay and memoir); Lillian Sun, Gold Key for “Public Libraries Are Underfunded and It’s Time to Change That” (critical essay); Eli Tillemann, golden key for “Under the rock of Aristophanes: my journey” (humor); and Jessica Wang, gold key for “In the Daisy Fields” (Poetry).
