Three Village Literary Scholar Students Honored

STONY BROOK, NY — Five junior high school students from the Three Village Central School District were recently celebrated for their outstanding writing skills as they were named Scholastic Writing Regional Awards winners in the Scholastic Art & Writing Award contest sponsored by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, the school district said via news release.

This year’s honorees include R.C. Murphy Junior High School students:

• Melody Wang – Gold Key for Poetry “Your Marionette”
• Charley Du – Silver Key for Flash Fiction “A Body Named Martin”
• Sammi Feil – Silver Key for Flash Fiction “1 Prisoner”
• Ava Tam – Honorable Mention for Personal Essay & Memoir “A Musical Realization”

As well as P.J. Gelinas Junior High School ninth grader:

• Ava Della Pietra – Gold Key for her Personal Essay & Memoir “Then and Now”

As Gold Key winners, Wang and Tam will now advance to the national competition, where their original works will be judged based on three criteria: originality, technical skill, and emergence of a personal vision or voice. National awards will be announced in March.

Since 1923, the Scholastic Awards have recognized some of America’s most celebrated artists when they were teenagers. Past honorees include Andy Warhol, Stephen King, Charles White and Joyce Carol Oates.