MASSENA -- Several Massena Central High School students in grades 9 through 12 were recognized by the regional Scholastic Art and Writing Competition.

Each year, more than 100 visual arts and literary arts organizations across the country partner to bring the Scholastic Awards to local communities.

Students in grades 7–12 apply for consideration in 29 categories of art and writing. In 2017, students submitted more than 330,000 works of art and writing to the Scholastic Awards. Gold Key Awards are automatically considered for national-level recognition.

In the category of Video Production, Ratewenniio George, grade 12, won a prestigious Gold Key Award for his short film, “Pain.”

Four Silver Key Awards were given to the following students: Madison Brown, grade 11, for her graphite and charcoal piece, “Rachel;” Lexis Jacobs, grade 12, for her charcoal piece, “Embrace;” Tyler Converse, grade 12, for his photograph, “Untitled;” Alexa Drumm, grade 12, for her sculpture, “Untitled.”

The following students received Honorable Mention for their work: Madison Brown, grade 11, for her graphite piece, “Madison;” Emma Kormanyos, grade 10, for her drawing, “Contemplation of an Artist;” Laura Guimond, grade 9, for her drawing, “Adrian;” Annabella Perretta, grade 9, for her pencil drawing, “Peppermint;” Abigail Benham, grade 9, for her pencil drawing, “Jack;” Emily Labarge, grade 9, for her drawing, “Isolation.”

All Artwork will be on display at the Whitney Applied Technology Center at Onondaga Community College from January 11 to March 3, 2018. All students in grades 9 and 10 are taking an art class for the first time this year since grade 7. All artwork was completed during the first 15 weeks of the school year, and many students worked additional hours outside of class time to complete their projects. Awards were received by students enrolled in two courses, which were offered for the first time during the 2017-18 school year: Photography and Video Production.

The art department expressed gratitude for the administration’s and public’s continued support of the art program and offered congratulations to all award recipients.