Milton Academy Senior Wins Writing Gold Medal

A Milton student is among only 15 teens from across the country to be selected as a Scholastic Art and Writing Awards Portfolio Gold Medal winner.

Tina Cho, a senior at , earned a $10,000 cash scholarship for her creative writing portfolio. The Portfolio Gold Medal is the highest honor given by the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, which are presented by the Alliance of Young Artists and Writers.

Cho will join other medal-winners at a ceremony at New York City’s Carnegie Hall on June 1.

Over 200,000 students in grades seven through 12 entered the competition, but just 1,600 winners were selected in the 28 possible categories.

Each entry was judged first regionally and, if successful at each subsequent level, eventually by a panel of jurors. The final judging panel, which consists of artists, educators, authors and other industry professionals, included David Sedaris, Mary Ellen Mark, Edwidge Danticat, Roz Chast and others, this year.

Cho first learned about the competition from her mother as an eighth grader and has earned medals in past years.

Even after attending summer workshops, Cho said she didn’t take her writing very seriously until her sophomore year at Milton Academy. A creative writing class, which progressed from poetry through several styles of writing, helped Cho build a lengthy list of literary skills.

With writing she’s done on her own and many pieces written for class, Cho had a lot to chose from while compiling her portfolio for the competition.

“I picked out the pieces I thought were good,” said Cho, which included pieces that have won awards and suggestions from teachers.

Works in the competition were judged on “originality, technical skill, and the emergence of personal vision or voice.” Cho believes her strongest areas were originality and technique.

After the Carnegie Hall ceremony this summer, Cho’s work will join other selected writing and art in an exhibit at Parsons The New School for Design in Manhattan through June 16, 2012.

Cho will end her senior year at Milton Academy with the award ceremony. While she hasn’t made an official college selection yet, she is deciding between Princeton and Yale.

“I definitely want to continue creative writing and visual art,” Cho said of her future.