FCPS Students Receive 2023 Regional Scholastic Writing Awards
Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) student writers won 35 Gold Key awards in the 2023 Regional Scholastic Writing Awards competition. In all, 213 Gold Key, Silver Key, and Honorable Mentions were earned by FCPS students.
Riva Jain, a student at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST), was named an American Voices Nominee for her dramatic script, “The Interview,” and Aileen Zhao, a student at McLean High School, was named an American Voices Nominee for her poetry, “Catalog of Ants.”
Winners in the regional competition came from 27 Fairfax County middle and high schools. A complete list of FCPS winners can be found below.
The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, presented by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, is the largest, longest-running recognition program of its kind in the United States. Writing categories include critical essay, dramatic script, flash fiction, humor, journalism, novel writing, personal essay and memoir, poetry, science fiction and fantasy, short story, and writing portfolio. More information about the Scholastic Writing Awards is available online.
| NAME | TITLE | CATEGORY | AWARD(S) | SCHOOL |
| Scarlett Adams | No Longer Afraid | Personal Essay & Memoir | Honorable Mention | Langley High School |
| Aleena Ahmed | South Asia | Poetry | Gold Key | McLean High School |
| Nourelhoda Alashlem | The Free People | Personal Essay & Memoir | Honorable Mention | Justice High School |
| Kesha Antsilevich | Traditional Medicine and the Crossroads between Culture, Science, and Choice | Critical Essay | Honorable Mention | Madison High School |
| Maya Berdia | Hopeful | Poetry | Honorable Mention | McLean High School |
| Maya Berdia | What Poetry Is | Poetry | Honorable Mention | McLean High School |
| Reyna Berry | Archaeology | Poetry | Silver Key | Marshall High School |
| Reyna Berry | The Lioness Builds a Sand Castle | Dramatic Script | Honorable Mention | Marshall High School |
| Jenna Cai | To Catch What I Missed | Poetry | Silver Key | Langley High School |
| Cameron Cates | June All Year | Novel Writing | Gold Key | South Lakes High School |
| Aaron Chen | There Is No ¦¦¦¦¦¦ | Short Story | Silver Key | Oakton High School |
| Rose Chen |
The Similarities between Chinese and American Education Systems’ Synchronism |
Critical Essay | Gold Key | McLean High School |
| Jenny Choi | My Grandma's Scent... | Personal Essay & Memoir | Honorable Mention | Oakton High School |
| William Choi | The Cursed House | Short Story | Honorable Mention | Fairfax High School |
| Yoonsub Choi | Jireh | Short Story | Honorable Mention | Thoreau Middle School |
| Anwesha Chowdhury | Sleepless Trilogy | Poetry | Honorable Mention | Lake Braddock Secondary School |
| Connor Chun | War of the Lost Generation; Novel of All Generation | Journalism | Honorable Mention | Langley High School |
| Natalia Colder | The Fine Print for Higher Education and Softball Scholarships | Flash Fiction | Silver Key | McLean High School |
| Noelle Cosgriff | It's So Quiet | Flash Fiction | Honorable Mention | Robinson Secondary School |
| Jackson Dabich | For Sale | Short Story | Honorable Mention | Marshall High School |
| Jackson Dabich | On Mac & Cheese | Personal Essay & Memoir | Silver Key | Marshall High School |
| Jackson Dabich | Redd | Short Story | Silver Key | Marshall High School |
| Jackson Dabich | The Slam Poetry Club at My School | Poetry | Honorable Mention | Marshall High School |
| Jackson Dabich | When I say I love you | Poetry | Honorable Mention | Marshall High School |
| Aeryn Dahm | In My Head | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Honorable Mention | South County High School |
| Haley Dao | Hush, Little Wonder | Poetry | Gold Key | Lake Braddock Secondary School |
| Haley Dao | You, Me, & the Sea | Flash Fiction | Honorable Mention | Lake Braddock Secondary School |
| Elena Davis | Convincing People Climate Change is Not Real: A How-to Guide | Humor | Silver Key | Centreville High School |
| Elena Davis | Foreigner: How My Hidden Korean Heritage Affected My Identity | Personal Essay & Memoir | Honorable Mention | Centreville High School |
| Elena Davis | The Three-Day Weekend: Assessing the Impacts of a Four-Day School Week | Critical Essay | Honorable Mention | Centreville High School |
| Marley Derienzo | Thermal Equilibrium | Novel Writing | Silver Key | McLean High School |
| Hyewon Do | Two Puppets | Personal Essay & Memoir | Honorable Mention | McLean High School |
| Makayla Donnelly | A Glass Wound | Flash Fiction | Honorable Mention | Rocky Run Middle School |
| Miriam Fabrycky | Seconded Nature | Short Story | Silver Key | Woodson High School |
| Michaela Frey | An Analysis of my Human Sentiments | Poetry | Honorable Mention | Langley High School |
| Raina Gao | A Day Too Late | Short Story | Silver Key | Rachel Carson Middle School |
| Sebastian Ghersi | Ditch the Tools, Burn the House Down | Critical Essay | Honorable Mention | Langley High School |
| Sebastian Ghersi | It Hides In My Throat | Poetry | Honorable Mention | Langley High School |
| Sebastian Ghersi | The Poems I Never Showed You | Poetry | Honorable Mention | Langley High School |
| Sebastian Ghersi | Veronica | Personal Essay & Memoir | Silver Key | Langley High School |
| Tracy Gong | An Ode to the Forgotten | Poetry | Silver Key | Langley High School |
| Tracy Gong | Forest God | Poetry | Honorable Mention | Langley High School |
| Tracy Gong | The only one left | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Honorable Mention | Langley High School |
| Tracy Gong | The Sweatshirt | Flash Fiction | Honorable Mention | Langley High School |
| Gavin Grant | The Human Heart | Flash Fiction | Honorable Mention | McLean High School |
| Samantha Grayer | Greenwashing: An Environmentally Unfriendly Solution | Critical Essay | Silver Key | Langley High School |
| Elizabeth Greene | Bedtime Stories | Personal Essay & Memoir | Silver Key | Marshall High School, |
| Stephanie Groves | Eyes and Ears | Poetry | Honorable Mention | Lake Braddock Secondary School |
| Stephanie Groves | Gyopo | Dramatic Script | Silver Key | Lake Braddock Secondary School |
| Levana Gu | I Will Raise Myself | Personal Essay & Memoir | Silver Key | McLean High School |
| Minsong Ha | Monkeypox: History Repeats Itself | Critical Essay | Honorable Mention | McLean High School |
| Jonathan Han | The Infinite Dilemma | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Honorable Mention | Chantilly High School |
| Taebeen Han | Choose | Short Story | Silver Key | Centreville High School |
| Taebeen Han | Our Meeting | Short Story | Silver Key | Centreville High School |
| Alyson Hoffman | A Crown Made of Twigs | Poetry | Honorable Mention | Oakton High School |
| Anisha Iqbal | Voice | Writing Portfolio | Honorable Mention | West Springfield High School |
| Sohan Jama | Of Watercolors | Poetry | Silver Key | Robinson Secondary School |
| Chloe Jeong | An Awry Visit | Flash Fiction | Silver Key | Longfellow Middle School |
| Danna Jia | The Harms of Social Media | Critical Essay | Honorable Mention | Langley High School |
| Safinabonu Juraeva | What we do not see | Novel Writing | Honorable Mention | Justice High School |
| Arin Kim | Flight to a New Chapter | Personal Essay & Memoir | Honorable Mention | Cooper Middle School |
| Hera Kim | For Kim Yang-ju | Poetry | Gold Key | Robinson Secondary School |
| Irene Kim | Trying to Sleep | Poetry | Honorable Mention | Centreville High School |
| Sigrid Kim | Burned Bone | Poetry | Honorable Mention | McLean High School |
| Sigrid Kim | Glass | Poetry | Silver Key | McLean High School |
| Sigrid Kim | The Cowboy | Poetry | Gold Key | McLean High School |
| Youngjae Kim | The Pearl Harbor of the 21st Century | Critical Essay | Gold Key | McLean High School |
| Ahroh Ko | The Raven on His Head | Short Story | Honorable Mention | McLean High School |
| Srivaishnavi Kommireddy | The Dinosaur | Personal Essay & Memoir | Honorable Mention | Woodson High School |
| Taylor Konditi | Wars, I Remember | Poetry | Gold Key | McLean High School |
| Chloe Lee | Where Did Home Go | Poetry | Gold Key | Oakton High School |
| Jayden Lee | A Time for Departure | Flash Fiction | Honorable Mention | Langley High School |
| Jayden Lee | Commencement | Poetry | Honorable Mention | Langley High School |
| Jayden Lee | Looks Like Love | Personal Essay & Memoir | Silver Key | Langley High School |
| Jiwoo Lee | The Importance of School Education About Autism Spectrum Disorder | Critical Essay | Silver Key | Longfellow Middle School |
| Kiwon Lee | I'm Not 4 Letters and a Number: Why Personality Tests Are Inaccurate | Critical Essay | Silver Key | Luther Jackson Middle School |
| Michael Lee | The Strange Encounters | Short Story | Honorable Mention | Woodson High School |
| Naomi Lee | In Control | Dramatic Script | Silver Key | Cooper Middle School |
| Naomi Lee | Maturity with Siblings | Personal Essay & Memoir | Silver Key | Cooper Middle School |
| Stella Lee | Freezing Time in Shangri-la | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Gold Key | McLean High School |
| Elsa Li | Numberless | Personal Essay & Memoir | Honorable Mention | Oakton High School |
| Cassie Liu | Family for a Fire | Poetry | Honorable Mention | Woodson High School |
| Rosabel Liu | Blood Red and the Seven Dwarf Comrades | Humor | Gold Key | Chantilly High School |
| Natalie Lopresti | The Patient Process of Becoming Whole | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Honorable Mention | Oakton High School |
| Charlie Meidlinger | A Lonely Sunday Morning | Short Story | Honorable Mention | South Lakes High School |
| Nour Mokbel | I Have Seen | Poetry | Honorable Mention | West Springfield High School |
| Nour Mokbel | Remembrance of Ramadan | Flash Fiction | Honorable Mention | West Springfield High School |
| Bryce Myers | Altera Vita | Novel Writing | Gold Key | Langley High School |
| Arai Nazarova | Olympiads for Girls? | Critical Essay | Gold Key | McLean High School |
| Milan Nguyen | Her Sister | Short Story | Honorable Mention | Langley High School |
| Zoey Pagotto | Farewell | Poetry | Honorable Mention | McLean High School |
| Ellen Pan | Beyond Shattered Glass | Writing Portfolio | Silver Key | McLean High School |
| Ellen Pan | Dear Dad | Personal Essay & Memoir | Gold Key | McLean High School |
| Christina Park | Dogter Evil | Humor | Honorable Mention | Rachel Carson Middle School |
| Eunice Park | Umma's Girl | Short Story | Silver Key | Lake Braddock Secondary School |
| Emily Reisman | It's JD | Dramatic Script | Honorable Mention | McLean High School |
| Anniyah Rizvi | Dear Santa Claus | Poetry | Honorable Mention | Langley High School |
| Anniyah Rizvi | For Amma. | Personal Essay & Memoir | Honorable Mention | Langley High School |
| Jiwon Ryu | Fahrenheit 451 Essay: People just need light to start glowing on their own | Critical Essay | Honorable Mention | McLean High School |
| Sandi Schneider | A Poet | Poetry | Silver Key | McLean High School |
| Renee Shi | Aerodynamic | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Honorable Mention | Cooper Middle School |
| Renee Shi | Bitter Bliss | Poetry | Gold Key | Cooper Middle School |
| Renee Shi | Filter | Poetry | Silver Key | Cooper Middle School |
| Renee Shi | Metamorphosis | Short Story | Honorable Mention | Cooper Middle School |
| Renee Shi | Naturally Gifted | Personal Essay & Memoir | Silver Key | Cooper Middle School |
| Renee Shi | The Blackburn Sisters | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Honorable Mention | Cooper Middle School |
| Rachel Smith | An Unwanted Moniker | Personal Essay & Memoir | Honorable Mention | South Lakes High School |
| Sara Smith | Aquaphor | Short Story | Gold Key | McLean High School |
| Eshaan Sombhatta | Tuvalu Traveler Chronicles | Novel Writing | Silver Key | Cooper Middle School |
| Abigail Sterner | The Sorrow of the Lady of Shallot | Short Story | Silver Key | McLean High School |
| Madeline Sullo | The Trinity of A Requiem | Poetry | Gold Key | Oakton High School |
| Vachel Thevenot | Deus Ex Machina | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Honorable Mention | Mclean High School |
| Vachel Thevenot | The Shades | Novel Writing | Silver Key | Mclean High School |
| Ayush Tripathy | The Decade Long Corruption that has Eneveloped the Core of FIFA | Journalism | Honorable Mention | South Lakes High School |
| Jiayi Wang | The Cultural Revolution | Poetry | Honorable Mention | Langley High School |
| Laura Wang | It's just a word | Poetry | Honorable Mention | McLean High School |
| Michelle Wang | Mama's Ramen | Personal Essay & Memoir | Honorable Mention | Lake Braddock Secondary School |
| Venita Wang | Two Hometowns | Personal Essay & Memoir | Gold Key | Longfellow Middle School |
| Sydney Wong | Proverbs and Memes: A Comparison | Critical Essay | Silver Key | Hayfield Secondary School |
| Angela Yan | Cultivated Meat: Sustainable Solution or Lab-Grown Letdown? | Critical Essay | Honorable Mention | Longfellow Middle School |
| Alicia Yau | The Missing Words | Short Story | Gold Key | McLean High School |
| Jason Yoo | A Mother's Love | Personal Essay & Memoir | Honorable Mention | Chantilly High School |
| Aileen Zhao | Catalog of Ants | Poetry | Gold Key • American Voices Nominee | McLean High School |
| Aileen Zhao | cosmogenous sediment; deluge myth; Prairie Park | Poetry | Gold Key | McLean High School |
| Aileen Zhao | dark match | Poetry | Honorable Mention | McLean High School |
| Aileen Zhao | Final Remarks | Flash Fiction | Gold Key | McLean High School |
| Aileen Zhao | good art | Poetry | Honorable Mention | McLean High School, |
| Aileen Zhao | Life at the End | Poetry | Silver Key | McLean High School |
| Aileen Zhao | My Chemical Romance is Defying Death | Critical Essay | Gold Key | McLean High School |
| Aileen Zhao | Perseus and Medusa | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Honorable Mention | McLean High School |
| Aileen Zhao | Rightful Owners: The Matter of Cultural Heritage Repatriation | Critical Essay | Honorable Mention | McLean High School |
| Aileen Zhao | Saints for Daughters; Ismene | Poetry | Gold Key | McLean High School |
| Aileen Zhao | Second Genesis | Poetry | Gold Key | McLean High School |
| Aileen Zhao | the deepest summer night | Poetry | Gold Key | McLean High School |
| Aileen Zhao | The Nature Theory | Poetry | Silver Key | McLean High School |
| Aileen Zhao | ulysses | Flash Fiction | Gold Key | McLean High School |
| Jiayin Zou | sonder and introspection | Personal Essay & Memoir | Honorable Mention | McLean High School |
| Neha Asuri | interior decorating | Poetry | Honorable Mention | Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST) |
| Isabella Cai | Toe-Mouthing and Hamster-Wheeling Academy for the Extremely and Amazingly Gifted | Humor | Silver Key | TJHSST |
| Katelyn Chen | “Mommm! I Hate Broccoli!” Dietary Preferences and the Development of Taste | Journalism | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Katelyn Chen | Chinese, Not Asian | Personal Essay & Memoir | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Grace Choi | Dear butterfly, pausing for a moment to rest on my finger | Poetry | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Ashley Chon | The Scent Of My Grave | Poetry | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Thanisha Chowdhury | Confessional | Short Story | Gold Key | TJHSST |
| Thanisha Chowdhury | Flying Lessons | Poetry | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Thanisha Chowdhury | Mythomaniac | Personal Essay & Memoir | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Thanisha Chowdhury | original sin | Poetry | Silver Key | TJHSST |
| Thanisha Chowdhury | plea to a mirror | Flash Fiction | Silver Key | TJHSST |
| Thanisha Chowdhury | the geography of a blank page | Flash Fiction | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Claire Guo | Her Companion | Short Story | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Claire Guo | Should Marijuana Be Legalized In The United States | Critical Essay | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Yashna Hasija | Remove Hostile Architecture from our City | Critical Essay | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Jiwoo Hwang | Layla: Woman of the Night | Personal Essay & Memoir | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Riva Jain | hello world | Poetry | Silver Key | TJHSST |
| Riva Jain | my words as medicine | Poetry | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Riva Jain | paper planes | Flash Fiction | Silver Key | TJHSST |
| Riva Jain | proelium (i go to battle on the heels of none that came before me) | Poetry | Silver Key | TJHSST |
| Riva Jain | reclaim (ecological succession) | Poetry | Gold Key | TJHSST |
| Riva Jain | the ghost of christmas past | Poetry | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Riva Jain | The Interview | Dramatic Script | Gold Key • American Voices Nominee | TJHSST |
| Inaayah Khan | brown girl’s ghazal | Poetry | Silver Key | TJHSST |
| Inaayah Khan | Rose Syrup at Midnight | Writing Portfolio | Silver Key | TJHSST |
| Ryan Kim | A Fisherman’s Tale | Personal Essay & Memoir | Silver Key | TJHSST |
| Moubon Kurukumbi | The Fall | Personal Essay & Memoir | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Elle Lee | A Trans Girl Hymn | Poetry | Silver Key | TJHSST |
| Elle Lee | An Unfailing Faith | Personal Essay & Memoir | Silver Key | TJHSST |
| Elle Lee | trans girl hymn | Writing Portfolio | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Joonwon Lee | Perfection | Poetry | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Joonwon Lee | The Hidden Truth Under the Layered Toxicity of Ironbound | Critical Essay | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Sophia Lin | Pink, ish. Maybe a bit of tangerine | Flash Fiction | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Hannah Liu | In Flaming Forests | Poetry | Silver Key | TJHSST |
| Kaitlyn Lu | Neverworld | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Silver Key | TJHSST |
| Ruthika Mamidi | Revelations of a Lost Warmth | Poetry | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Aubree Masud | The Monster | Poetry | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Lyat Melese | Crossing Cultures | Writing Portfolio | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Lyat Melese | Flavorless | Poetry | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Lyat Melese | Limited Agency | Personal Essay & Memoir | Gold Key | TJHSST |
| Lyat Melese | One-sided Legacy | Poetry | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Lyat Melese | Waiting | Flash Fiction | Gold Key | TJHSST |
| Cierra Min | Brevity | Flash Fiction | Silver Key | TJHSST |
| Cierra Min | favorite child | Poetry | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Cierra Min | How many moons does it take to change a lightbulb? | Poetry | Silver Key | TJHSST |
| Cierra Min | placebo | Poetry | Silver Key | TJHSST |
| Amy Nam | something my math teacher didn't teach me | Poetry | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Mulan Pan | a white flag for the black hole | Poetry | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Mulan Pan | Chorus for the Cicada (Jenkins et al., 2020) | Poetry | Silver Key | TJHSST |
| Mulan Pan | i run the cross-country cables behind my teeth | Poetry | Gold Key | TJHSST |
| Mulan Pan | Kicau-mania: | Poetry | Silver Key | TJHSST |
| Mulan Pan | Love Story Between a Pigeon and a Bronze Statue | Poetry | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Mulan Pan | Odd Refractions of Reverence | Writing Portfolio | Silver Key | TJHSST |
| Mulan Pan | The Artist’s Advice for the Aspiring Ornithologist | Personal Essay & Memoir | Silver Key | TJHSST |
| Mulan Pan | When I die, I would like to be honored as if I were a blue whale, | Poetry | Gold Key | TJHSST |
| Phoebe Pan | A Hidden Treasure: The Power of Introverts | Critical Essay | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Sean Pham | Stormy Dreams | Poetry | Silver Key | TJHSST |
| Angelina Richter | Cats on the Roof | Dramatic Script | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Angelina Richter | Cats on the Roof | Novel Writing | Silver Key | TJHSST |
| Estan Rodriguez | Cardinal Against Gray Sky | Poetry | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Estan Rodriguez | Fossils After All | Writing Portfolio | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Estan Rodriguez | Luster: Evidence for the Soul | Poetry | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Estan Rodriguez | Ultrasonic Warnings | Poetry | Silver Key | TJHSST |
| Nandini Shyamala | Something in the Braids | Personal Essay & Memoir | Silver Key | TJHSST |
| Xinuo Song | The superposition of dreams | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Lynn Tao | Mulberry Memories | Personal Essay & Memoir | Silver Key | TJHSST |
| Lynn Tao | Seeing the World | Writing Portfolio | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Sophia Tzvetanov | My Body, the Earth | Poetry | Silver Key | TJHSST |
| Jessica Wang | ars poetica | Poetry | Silver Key | TJHSST |
| Jessica Wang | resonant | Poetry | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Jessica Wang | Train Ride | Flash Fiction | Silver Key | TJHSST |
| Harry Xiao | Front Yard Turmoil | Personal Essay & Memoir | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Vivian Xue | De Deis Filiisque | Poetry | Gold Key | TJHSST |
| Vivian Xue | Ode to the Nereids and the Fall of Troy | Poetry | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |
| Laura Zhang | tainted love | Personal Essay & Memoir | Silver Key | TJHSST |
| Megan Zhang | Just Like Your Mother | Flash Fiction | Honorable Mention | TJHSST |