In the annual Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, 22 Cathedral students were recognized in the Midwest region, according to photography and graphic design teacher Ms. Joellen Desautels. 

Desautels has been submitting her students’ photography and graphic design work for the six years that she has taught on the Hill. She said, “I didn’t know about Scholastic until (art teacher) Mr. (Jon) Kane told me about it because I didn’t know about it as a new teacher.” 

The award categories are Gold Key, Silver Key and honorable mention. Desautels said, “The Silvers and the Golds go on to Nationals. Honorable mentions are notable for their region but they don’t go on to Nationals.” Four students received either a Gold or Silver award.

Junior Sally Bradshaw won the school’s only Gold Key award for her poetry collection, “On Living (A House Made of Pages and Ink).” Desautels said, “This is the only writing we’ve ever had win. We’ve always done visual arts.” 

Sophomore Landon Korous and junior Erin Emmick each won a Silver Key for digital photography, while sophomore Ben Holmes won a Silver Key for film photography.

Winning an honorable mention in photography are freshmen Ellen Albaugh and Ryan Peterson; sophomores Joan Darnell, Aniyah Neal, Julia Hurley, Joshua Griffin and Katherine Nash; and juniors Sharon Perez, Kiara Taylor and Cat Madden.

Winning an honorable mention in film photography are sophomore Taria Holifield and junior Colin Chandler. 

Winning an honorable mention in graphic design are seniors Charlie Schenck and Olivia Barr.

Winning an honorable mention in ceramics are junior Austin Wright and senior Hannah Nguyen.

Winning an honorable mention in drawing are freshman Sophia Beeson and sophomore Caroline Dobrota.

Bradshaw, the winner of the poetry Gold Key, spoke over Zoom to the value of being an artist. To anyone not already creating, she said, “Go out and express yourself in any way, if it’s poetry, that’s amazing; if it’s not, that’s great. Even if you don’t consider yourself an artistic person, you’ll find a lot of freedom in practicing art in any form, because there are no rules or guidelines.”