Creativity Earns National Honors for Ward Melville Students

Ward Melville High School senior Erika Riley has won a National Gold Key Award in the highly competitive 2015 Scholastic Art and Writing Contest.

Erika’s award winning piece, “Bad Ideas”, told the tale of a girl looking back on a friendship after a tragedy. It had earned recognition earlier this winter on the regional level of the contest. Erika – a now three time national winner – aspires to major in creative writing in college.

Additional contest accolades were received by juniors Henry DaCosta and Grace Zhao, both of who won National Silver Awards. Henry was honored for his film, “The Shore” and Grace won for her short story “Adagio in G Major.”

The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards is one of the nation’s largest, longest-running, most prestigious literary arts programs that honors students in grades 7-12 for their original works.

Photo provided by the Three Village Central School District: Ward Melville High School students Grace Zhao, Erika Riley and Henry DaCosta.