Memorial High junior Alex Pong’s “Subtle Self-portrait” also won the Texas Art Award.

Eleven Spring Branch ISD students have been named regional winners in the annual Scholastic Art & Writing competition sponsored by the Harris County Department of Education (HCDE). The students were honored recently during a special HCDE awards presentation and reception. Top student works now vie in Scholastic’s national art and writing competition.

In the regional Scholastic Art competition, three students earned top Gold Key awards. Memorial Middle School eighth-grader Jennifer Fan won two first-place recognitions for paintings titled “The Dream to Win” and “Figuring it Out.” Joining her in the Gold Key winner’s circle with their own paintings were Memorial High students Kimberly Chang, a senior, for her work titled “Troubled Dreams,” and Alex Pong, a junior, for “Subtle Self-Portrait.” Alex’s talent also won him the Texas Art Award and a $500 cash prize.

Student art instructors are Lynn Ludlam of Memorial Middle and Cathleen May and Marilyn Guerinot, both of Memorial High.

Earning a separate Silver Art Portfolio award was Stratford High senior Jessica Dikdan. This talented young artist is a student of art teacher Jana Stiffel.  

In the regional Scholastic Writing competition, six Memorial High seniors and one sophomore won awards for personal works ranging from journalism to poems.

Named as Gold Key winners are sophomore Linh Tran Do and seniors Laura Bielinski, Amrita Vir and Emily Walls. Linh Tran won for a 2-page story in the short short category for “Spirit of the Mountain,” in which a tiger is threatened by poachers.

Laura’s personal essay describes the influence that the novel Jane Eyre has had on her perspectives and outlook. In the journalism category, Amrita was honored for an editorial about recent events in Jena, La., and racial tension in general, titled “Something’s Rotten in the State of Louisiana.” Emily’s award-winning poem is “Song of Ngong.”

Winning Silver Key awards are seniors Dhruv Gupta, Kate Phillips and Tevie Son. In the journalism category, Dhruv won for an article about the teaching of evolution and natural selection, titled “Evolution and School Curricula.”

Kate’s poem, “Earthshine,” describes the beauty of a moonlit ocean as it invokes the romance and adventure of epic Norse poetry. “Project Armageddon,” in the science fiction/fantasy category, involves a young man who sacrifices his life for the sake of revenge and, in so doing, loses his own identity.

Memorial High English/Language Arts teachers who instruct these talented young writers are Laura Kohlmaier, Todd McCardle, Patti Nommensen and Marjorie Schnell.

posted 03-04-08