The Scholastic Art and Writing contest presents awards to young middle and high school artists who compete and show off the hard work that went into making their piece. Art students received a combined 23 awards for their photos, drawings, paintings, and sculptures. Winners include Enya Hodgson, Kailee Harris, Vanessa Nunez, Sara Peebus, Marin Ellis, Noel Vinzon, Anneliese, Sovanna Ramirez, Hanna Sanderson, Almoni Toussaint, Allison Wells, Hunter Harwick, Woo Joon Kim, Mallory Stewart, Grace Holley, and Emily Mertink.

Sara Peebus, 12

Q: What’s the name of your piece?

A: “Caution, because there was a caution sign in the photo. It’s a pretty simple name.”

Q: What award did you get?

A: “Gold key. That means it will advance to another round.”

Q: What inspired you to take the photo?

A: “An artist that I really like, a former Vista Ridge student, took pictures at the same roller rink that I took my photo. My friend Kailee and I saw her photos on Instagram, and we decided to take pictures there.”

Q: Why do you like photography?

A: “It’s an easy way to see things differently and show it to people. And it’s a different perspective than what they would normally see. I think a lot of it is that I like nice things, but I also liking finding ugly things and making them beautiful or interesting.”

Hunter Harwick, 12

Q: What’s the name of your piece?

A: “Altered Reality.”

Q: What award did you get for your photo?

A: “I got a gold key medal.”

Q: What inspired you to take this photo?

A: “I just wanted to show how you can alter time with a camera and Photoshop, and that’s why it’s called altered reality.”

Q: Why do you love photography?

A: “Because it’s so diverse. I can go shoot film, black and white or colored, or I could go take digital photos. I can go to so many things to edit my photos on the computer. It’s always different and it keeps me on my toes.”

Q: Do you have a favorite photographer or someone that inspires you?

A: “Yes, his name is Luke Austin. He does a lot of portraiture photos, and I love portraits.”

Mallory Stewart, 11

Q: What are the names of your art works?

A: “Life Underground,” “Ego Death,” and “Curtain Call.”

Q: What awards did you get?

A: “Life Underground was awarded a gold key, Ego Death was given a silver key, and I got honorable mention for Curtain Call.”

Q: What inspired you to take these photos?

A: “My inspiration for Life Underground is kind of a funny story because I took a trip to New York when I first got my really nice camera, and I didn’t really know how to use it. I was just using automatic settings, but I ended up with a really cool shot. It was just a spur of the moment thing. I was just taking pictures, and it turned out better than I expected. When I took the photo ‘Ego Death,’ I was at photography camp, and we were walking around thinking of cool pictures to take on a really boring college campus.”

Q: Why do you love photography?

A: “I love the way you can work with light. That’s probably my favorite part about it. I like shadows, harsh light, soft light and I just think it’s interesting how different things can look depending on what light you use.”

Q: Do you have a favorite photographer or artist?

A: “Probably Steve McCurry. He’s a photographer for National Geographic. He did a portrait of an Afghan girl, and I think it’s really beautiful. He does amazing cultural portraits.”