Culver City Observer -

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards is a nation-wide arts competition open to all high school students across the nation. Culver City High students from the CCHS Academy of Visual and Performing Arts (AVPA) have been recognized for their exceptional talent in the visual arts.

Edna Vogel Amezcua, Michelle Bac, Camille Clair, and Ahin Ju have earned “Gold Key” awards, the highest level of achievement, for their individual work in visual art. Edna Vogel Amezcua has won one of five top awards called, “The American Visions Award” for her unique personal expression of a portrait painting of CCHS Mathematics teacher, Michael Marsh.

These four students will continue to compete in the Scholastic Arts & Writing Awards national adjudication in New York City for further scholarship consideration.

Additionally, Edna, Michelle, and Kelly Yeo have won “Silver Key” awards for other individual art pieces in drawing and painting. Stefana Gloginic, Madeleine Leist, Marilyn Liu, Delva Reyes Rodriguez, Sophie Rivera, and Kelly Yeo were awarded “Honorable Mention” for their artwork.

Scholastic Art and Writing Competition also recognize students for literary excellence by The California Writing Awards from The California Writing Project, California Writes! and the California Association of Teachers of English. 11th grade AVPA art student, Kelly Yeo was awarded two Gold Keys for her poetry collections, one of which is an American Voices nominee, the highest regional award.

Kelly also earned a Silver Key for a personal essay. Kate Johannesen has won a "Gold Key" for her poetry. Kelly and Kate’s poems will now move to the national competition.

The Scholastic Art Awards ceremony and exhibition will be held in March at The Armory Center for the Arts, 145 N. Raymond Street in Pasadena, where the winners of the Regional Scholastic Arts & Writing Awards competition will be recognized for their achievements. All the “Gold Key” award recipients from The CCHS Academy of Visual and Performing Arts will have their artwork displayed in the galleries at The Armory.