Bolingbrook Students Earn Scholastic Writing Awards

Submitted by Valley View School District 365U

Photo: Brooks Middle School 8th grade honors language arts teacher Sally Green congratulates Scholastic Art & Writing Award winners (from left) Krista Vilimek, Kendra Carrillo, Brenden Wagner and Grace Hannemann. Wagner earned a Gold Key and now advances to national competition.

Four Brooks Middle School honor students have been named 2016 Scholastic Art & Writing regional award winners, with one of them, 8th grader Brenden Wagner, advancing to national competition.

Wagner earned a Scholastic Gold Key for his poem “Clearly Defined,” Krista Vilimek received a Silver Key for a poem titled “My Father’s Eyes” as well as an honorable mention for another poem, Kendra Carrillo secured an honorable mention for her poem “Nothing Beautiful Lasts” and Grace Hannemann received an honorable mention for her short story “Ghost Girl.”

Nearly 320,000 students in grades 7 through 12 submitted entries to the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards contest which is presented by the non-profit Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. The group’s mission is to identify students with exceptional artistic and literary talent and present their remarkable work to the world. Regional Gold Key winners like Wagner move on to the next level of competition with an opportunity for national recognition, exhibition, publication, and scholarships.

“Lots of people have told me I’m good at writing, but I’m not a writer,” said Wagner, who is involved in drama at Brooks and spends two hours a day at Bolingbrook High School taking high school level math and science classes.

The former Pioneer and R.C. Hill elementary school student said he created his award-winning piece about rules and expectations of poetry and how they’ve changed over time “on the spot” after he lost one of the two other poems he had written for the contest.

“It’s kind of ironic because usually when you put the most effort into something, that’s what’s acknowledged,” he said.

“Brenden is a true visible learner whose critical thinking skills are well beyond his years,” said Sally Green, his 8th grade language arts teacher at Brooks.

Vilimek’s Silver Key award winner focused on health problems her dad has suffered in the past.

“It kind of hurts me that he feels that way so I let it all out in a poem one day,” the former Oak View Elementary School student said.

“Krista started sharing her poetry-filled journal early in the year,” Green said. “She sees with an artist’s eye and as a member of the Louder Than a Bomb Spoken Word poetry team, she is developing into a performance poet as well.”

“I’ve never been recognized for my writing before,” Vilimek said. “I felt really happy when I found out. I was really ecstatic.”

Carrillo, who Green calls “a true poet in all senses,” attended Wood View Elementary School before Brooks. She hopes to major in the culinary arts and eventually open her own restaurant.

She wrote her award-winning poem “just to see if I could actually do it. It was a bit of an experiment.”

Hannemann, a former Pioneer Elementary School student, readily admits language arts is her favorite class. This is her first writing award.

“Grace is a driven writer and an amazing literary scholar,” Green said.

For more than 90 years The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards have recognized the vision, ingenuity, and talent of our nation’s youth, and provided opportunities for creative teens to be celebrated.

National medal winners are scheduled to be announced March 14.