April 12, 2023
For additional information, contact Scott Chatfield, Dean of Fine Arts at schatfield@coebrown.org or Judy Loto, Director of Development and Community Outreach: jloto@coebrown.org
For Immediate Release:
Coe-Brown Students Receive National Recognition in Writing and Art
Northwood, New Hampshire… Coe-Brown Northwood Academy is pleased to announce that four students have received national recognition from the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers through the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Silver Medals at the national level were awarded to senior Lauren Gibson of Barrington, NH, for her painting “Are You Ok?,” senior Drew Dyer of Strafford, NH, for his personal essay and memoir, What? and freshman Oliver Ford of Strafford, NH, for his flash fiction work, The King of Chess. Senior Sydney Smith of Strafford, NH, was one of only fifty students across the nation to receive the ‘American Voices’ medal for her work of poetry titled, Posthistory. Each of these four works of art or writing exemplifies the Alliance’s core values of skill, originality, and personal voice or vision.
Sarah Hill, a teacher in Coe-Brown’s English Department, feels the Scholastic art and writing programs are critical to creative growth, “Providing space to cultivate students’ creativity and imagination in the creative arts for an authentic audience is one reason why programs such as these are so important…Students get the chance to depart from traditional analytical writing and explore their own unique and playful ideas as real authors do. It’s so important for young students to see how their processes of brainstorming, drafting, receiving feedback, revising and then sharing and publishing through the writing process can result in others appreciating their personal works in a much larger audience.”
Scott Chatfield, Dean of CBNA’s Fine Arts Department, notes, “I’ve been involved with the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards for thirty years. One aspect of the awards program that has remained consistent is the three criteria of originality, personal vision, and technical skill. My non-profit organization (the Scholastic Art Awards of NH) has developed a mission statement that supports what I feel is also the underlying philosophy of CBNA’s visual arts program. ‘A moment of positive recognition can inspire a student to pursue a lifetime of creative expression. It is critical to provide each emerging generation of creative leaders with early encouragement and to support artistic development.’”
This year’s awardees were part of the 100th annual class of recognition in what has been referred to as, “…the nation’s longest running and most prestigious program for creative teens in grades 7-12.” The Alliance also noted that in 2023, “Student participation is up 15% from 2022, with more than 100,000 teens from U.S. territories, Canada, and every state in the nation participating in this year’s Awards, submitting over 300,000 works of art and writing. Works by more than 40,000 teens received regional recognition, and nearly 2,000 works earned national awards.”
According to the Alliance’s website, “entries are selected for awards without knowledge of the student’s gender, age, ethnicity, or hometown by some of the foremost leaders in the visual and literary arts. Many Scholastic Awards alumni have lent their expertise as jurors, including Michael Bierut, Philip Pearlstein, Edward Sorel, Red Grooms, and Gary Panter. Other luminaries who have served as judges include Langston Hughes, Robert Frost, Judy Blume, Billy Collins, Paul Giamatti, Francine Prose, Edwidge Danticat, David Sedaris, Lesley Stahl, Nikki Giovanni, Roz Chast, Wangechi Mutu, Andres Serrano, Kiki Smith, Jill Kraus, Shinique Smith, Rashid Johnson, and Waris Ahluwalia.”
The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
Founded in 1923, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are presented by the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, and are made possible through the generosity of Scholastic Inc., New York Life Foundation, The Maurice R. Robinson Fund, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Command Companies, The Herb Block Foundation, Quad and The Windhover Foundation, BLICK Art Materials, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, National Endowment for the Arts, The New York Times, Don’t Hide It, Flaunt It, RBC Foundation USA, Morgan Stanley, ChangeCX, Lindenmeyr Book Publishing Papers, Garcia Family Foundation, and numerous other individual, foundation, and corporate funders; and, for the National Student Poets Program, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, The Hearthland Foundation, Poetry Foundation, and Academy of American Poets.
For more information about the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, visit www.artandwriting.org. Additional details about the Awards can be found in the Scholastic media room: http://mediaroom.scholastic.com/artandwriting.
Coe-Brown Northwood Academy
Coe-Brown Northwood Academy strives to produce graduates who are academically and socially prepared to be responsible, caring and contributing members of the global society.
Founded in 1867, Coe-Brown Northwood Academy is a comprehensive secondary institution offering the highest quality curriculum of studies to the residents of Northwood, Strafford, and surrounding towns, as well as matriculated day students from further afield. The State of New Hampshire certifies Coe-Brown Northwood Academy as a “Public Academy” with public school approval. Our educational programs and opportunities are accessible to both traditional and non-traditional learners, responsive to the diverse needs of an ever-changing community, and consistent with state and federal laws supporting the education of our youth.
The Academy offers a curriculum of studies which is consistent with these premises and the laws of the State of New Hampshire. This curriculum, woven into a coordinated course of study, will enable all students to realize their potential and prepare them for their chosen endeavors upon graduation. The expertise of faculty and staff permits course offerings to develop the full potential of all students, whether they be educationally advantaged or challenged. It is then incumbent on the students to be academically diligent, consistent in attendance, and positive in attitude to successfully complete their chosen course of studies.
Coe-Brown Northwood Academy is located at 907 First NH Turnpike, in Northwood, New Hampshire, on the shores of beautiful Harvey Lake. For further information about the school, please call 603-942-5531 or visit our website at www.CoeBrown.org.
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Caption Photo #1: National Silver Medal award winner Andrew Dyer ’23.
Caption Photo #2: National Silver Medal award winner Oliver Ford ‘26
Caption Photo #3: National Silver Medal award winner Lauren Gibson ’23
Caption Photo #4: National ‘American Voices’ Medal award winner Sydney Smith’23
