TOWSON, MD—Baltimore County Public Schools students from 14 high schools and one middle school have earned 787 awards from the 2024 Maryland Regional Scholastic Art & Writing Awards recognition program – more than double the number of honors (347) earned in 2023.

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards is considered the nation’s longest-running and most prestigious arts program for students in Grades 7-12. Regional awards are presented at the Gold Key, Silver Key, and Honorable Mention level. Entries receiving Gold Keys are then considered for possible national-level Scholastic Awards, which will be announced on Wednesday, June 12.

“We congratulate the honored students for their outstanding artistic achievements, and we recognize our dedicated visual arts and English language arts educators who instruct, challenge, and inspire these students,” said BCPS Superintendent Dr. Myriam Rogers. “We invest in arts education because it allows our students to express their creativity and because it offers so many academic and social-emotional benefits to them.”

BCPS students earned 558 visual arts awards, including 157 Gold Keys, 153 Silver Keys, and 248 Honorable Mentions, and they earned 229 writing awards, including 118 Gold Keys, 84 Silver Keys, 16 Honorable Mentions, and 11 portfolio awards (includes two Gold Keys and eight Silver Keys). Recognized students represent Dulaney, Dundalk, Eastern Technical, Hereford, Loch Raven, Overlea, Parkville, Patapsco, Perry Hall, Sparrows Point, and Towson high schools; George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology; Milford Mill Academy; Western School of Technology; and Sudbrook Magnet Middle School. Seventy-three percent of the awards (228 Gold Keys, 186 Silver Keys, and 158 Honorable Mentions) were earned by Carver Center students. A complete list of honorees can be viewed on the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts website.

Special honors

The top five Scholastic submissions in the region for visual arts are named American Visions nominees, and the top five for writing are named American Voices nominees. These nominees will go on to compete for a National Medal. This year’s nominees from BCPS are:

• American Visions Nominee: Melissa Filatov, Grade 10, Carver Center, for “Nothing to Hide” (Drawing & Illustration)
• American Voices Nominee: Maya Dawn, Grade 9, Carver Center, for “The Art of Preventing the Inevitable” (Poetry)

Art teacher Alexandra Harter from Sudbrook Magnet Middle School was among six art educators recognized for their extraordinary efforts to support student engagement and success in the Scholastic program. Harter will receive a gift certificate from Blick Art Materials & Utrecht Art Supplies.