Six Tartans Win National Medals in Scholastic Art & Writing Awards

It was a banner year for St. Margaret’s in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. After SMES students achieved unprecedented success at the regional competition, six Tartans have gone on to win gold or silver medals in the national competition as well, putting their work in rare company.

The national medalists represent the top 1 percent of the record 330,000 submissions to this year’s contest.

Junior Kinsale Hueston won two national gold medals in writing. Her work titled “Haseya (She Rises)” won gold in the dramatic script category, and she won a national gold medal in poetry for her work “Grandmother.” Both works focused on the challenges facing the present-day Navajo culture.

“The first time I read one of Kinsale’s poems, I was startled by her sophisticated use of imagery and diction,” said Upper School English teacher Jamie Bunch. “She has so many strengths that she can do whatever she wants with her life, but I hope she keeps writing. She has the ability to go far with it, and a great deal of natural aptitude, as her recent success with the Scholastic Writing Contest demonstrates.”

Also winning gold in the writing categories was junior Sahar Khashayar for the poem “Growing Up Queer.”

In the visual art categories, grade 8 student Madye Arundale won a national gold medal for her film animation “Fox and Bear.” She was joined by three Tartans earning silver medals in the visual arts—junior Danielle Drislane (painting for “Midtown”), senior Connor Jordan (sculpture for “Blame”) and junior Hana Adams (photography for “Clean Up on Aisle 6”).

Gold key winners in the regional contests were entered into the national competition, and St. Margaret’s had 17 total submissions after faring well in the West Coast At-Large region. The regional showing was one of the best in Orange County, with Tartans winning 94 art awards and 33 writing awards.

Kinsale, Sahar and Madye will be honored with other gold medalists across the country at the national ceremony in June at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Select works will also be on display in several New York City locations this summer.