Community Corner
Minnesota Connections Academy Student Awarded Two National Medals
Teen places within top 1% of all 2019 Scholastic Awards submissions. Flexibility of online public school helps make passion possible!
The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, the nonprofit that presents the New York-based Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, has presented Minnesota Connections Academy 8th grader Catrielle Barnett with two National Medals: Silver Medal (mixed media) for "Fleeing The Tainted City" and a Silver Medal (jewelry) for "Trapped Tears."
Nearly 340,000 works of art and writing were submitted to the 2019 Scholastic Awards. Catrielle's work was selected by some of the foremost leaders in the visual and literary arts for excellence in originality, technical skill, and the emergence of a personal voice or vision. Receiving a National Medal places her within the top 1% of all submissions. Since 1923, the Awards have celebrated teen artists and writers from across the country. That legacy includes celebrated alumni like artists Andy Warhol, Robert Indiana, and Kay WalkingStick; writers Sylvia Plath, Truman Capote, and Joyce Carol Oates; and filmmakers Lena Dunham and Ken Burns.
This year, the organization presented the 2019 Alumni Achievement Award to astronomer Dr. Lucianne Walkowicz, who received a Scholastic Award for painting in 1996. As a National Medalist, her work will be published in their Online Galleries at artandwriting.org in June. Catrielle's name will also be listed in the 2019 Yearbook, a companion publication to The Best Teen Art and The Best Teen Writing anthologies.
In March, Catrielle won two awards at the Minnesota Scholastic Art Show. Liam Barnett also won an award. Catrielle received two Gold Keys, one for "Fleeing the Tainted City" and one for "Trapped Tears." MNCA 10th grader Liam was awarded a Gold Key in Film Making for his short music video, T1D, which he created to inspire others living with Type 1 Diabetes. Liam wrote a rap/poem and created a visual that illustrated his frustrations and eventual acceptance of the complex disease. Congratulations again, Liam and Catrielle.
Enrollment for Minnesota Connections Academy's 2019-20 school year is open. Learn more here.
