Lusher Tops State in 2014 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards

Lusher Charter School students in grades 7-12 received 145 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards at in the 2014 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards Southeast Louisiana Region-at-Large Competition, earning more awards than any other school in Louisiana. The awards included 98 Creative Writing and 51 Media and Visual Arts wins.                     

Lusher received 18 Gold Keys (the competition’s highest award), 15 for Creative Writing, two for Media Arts and one for Visual Arts.  In Creative Writing, these included two Gold Keys for Senior Portfolio and Poetry to Peyton Brunet, along with a Silver Key for senior portfolio; Marisa Clogher, who won three Gold Keys in the Poetry, Personal Essay/Memoir and Short Story categories; Helene Lovett, who earned an award for Personal Essay/Memoir; Aja Becker for Poetry and Flash Fiction; and Madeleine LeCesne, Madeline Sintes, Morgan Ruoss, Kate Stubbs, Diego Oldenburg, Kelly Yu and Piper Howard for Poetry.  Emelie Oppman won a Gold Key for Visual Arts, Elliott Blunk won for Design and Aili Francis for photography in Media Arts. See photo.

Of our region's five American Voices nominees (a "best in show" award), four were works submitted by Lusher students and Gold Key winners: Aja Becker, Helene Lovett, Peyton Brunet, and Marisa Clogher.             

All Gold Key works are forwarded to the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers in New York City for national adjudication, and national medalists will be announced March 15. Scholastic Gold Key winners are eligible to apply for a range of scholarships, ranging from summer study to college.           

Thirty-four Silver Keys in Creative Writing went to: Evelyn Burvant (2), Louise Oliver, Sisson O’Reilly, Chloe Papai, Zoe Barthelemy, Danielle Goodwin, Caitlin McFarland, Grace Morse (2), Jay Xiong, Taylor Crayon, Sophie Evans (2), Kindall Gant, Alexander Gulden, Lisa Jackson, Katherine Rose, Renee Junot, Madeleine LeCesne (5), Helene Lovett (3), Peyton Brunet (2), Marisa Clogher (2), Judith Watts, David Schneider, and Lucy Tucker.            

Six Silver Keys in Media Arts went to: Carin Entrekin, Aili Francis (3), Sadie Weise, and Jonathan Wilkins.            

Seven Silver Keys in Visual Arts went to: Simone Gautschi, Mika O’Connell, Helene Lovett, Corinna Sciarappa, Sophie Vagianos (2), and Spencer Wagner.            
Honorable Mentions in Creative Writing (45) went to: Judith Breinin, Keller Clark, Makayla Howard, Rohan Padmakumar, Autumn Palmer, Georgia Roberts, Kelly Yu, Chenyu Zhao, Zachary Arendt, Hope Avrard, Aja Becker, Rachel Carney, Yume Jensen (2), Lukas Koelbel, Linda Lilly, Callan McGuire, Grace Morse (2), Abbie Richeson (2), Freda Sciarappa, Julia Simon (2), Emily Trinh (2), Devlin Basinger, Lisa Jackson, Katherine Rose, Sumner Skelding, Beatrice Zhang (2), Robert Webster (2), Knox Clark, Madeleine LeCesne (2), Helene Lovett (3), Ariadne Makridakis (2), Marisa Clogher, Aroosa Khokher, and Ellen Mccusker.            

In Visual (17): Jacob Arroyo, Ariel Baham, Gabrielle Chenevert, Lorenza Delapuente, Chloe Evans, Nick Figueroa, Simone Gautschi , Hyewon Han (2), Cameron London, Helene Lovett, Mika O’Connell, Emelie Oppman (2), Corinna Sciarappa, and Lucien Smith (2). In Media Arts (18): Elaine Arendt (2), Elliot Blunck, Nick Elmer, Aili Francis (2), Grenda Sescha, Will Hahne, Wingate Jones (2), Kaelin Loss, Mickey McGovern, Christian McLain, Ethan Morales,  Alex Pedersen, Allen Pellebon, Noah Simon, and Sadie Weise.                                                                                                             

“We are so proud of our students and the recognition they have received from Scholastic,” said Lusher CEO,  Kathy Riedlinger. “Lusher’s rigorous academic and art-based program has continually been recognized nationally and I applaud the hard work and dedication of our students and faculty artists.”           
Silver and Gold Medal winners will be invited to the awards ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City on June 6, 2014.           

Administered by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, the Scholastic Art & Writing Award competition is one of the most prestigious for middle and high school students, founded to celebrate the creative achievements of America’s teens. The Awards were founded in 1923 in order to offer recognition and scholarships for students for their artistic talents, instead of their academic or athletic abilities. Students who excel in the visual arts and creative writing participate in The Awards in order to earn recognition, get their work exhibited or published, and to earn scholarships. Alumni of the awards include Truman Capote, Sylvia Plath, Andy Warhol, and Robert Redford.  For more information, go to: www.artandwriting.org

PHOTO #1: Lusher' Charter School's Gold Key winners in the 2014 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Front row: Helene Lovett, Madeleine LeCesne, Kelly Yu, Aja Becker, Morgan Ruoss, Piper Howard, Emilie Oppman.  Second row: Diego Odenburg, Marisa Clogher, Kate Stubbs, Aili Francis, Payton Brunet, Elliott Blunk

PHOTO#2: Lusher' Charter School's 2014 Scholastic Art & Writing Award winners
 
Lusher Charter School is the only K-12 public school in Orleans parish. In partnership with Tulane University, Lusher students earn tuition- free Tulane university credits, access Tulane’s library collection, and partner with university faculty. Lusher is nationally recognized by the US Department of Education, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, US News and World Report, and most recently by New Orleans Magazine as the city’s best charter school. Serving over 1700 students from diverse backgrounds, Lusher’s academic performance has ranked among the highest in the state over the last 25 years.