Students win regional art and writing awards

Thirteen Fox Chapel Area School District students recently won awards for their entries in the Pittsburgh Region of the 2025 Scholastic Art Awards.

Gold Key winners were Fox Chapel Area High School juniors Raina Guzman and Mira Owens, and Dorseyville Middle School seventh-grader Samuel Ettinger. The Gold Key winners will have their work sent to New York for national judging where they will be competing with other regional winners from across the United States for national awards. The winners of the national contest will be part of the Scholastic Art Awards National Exhibit.

The Fox Chapel Area Silver Key winners were senior Sangyon Park; juniors Raina Guzman, Akshay Lath (5 Silver Keys), Mira Owens (2 Silver Keys) and Yixin Zhang; sophomore HanYing Zhang (2 Silver Keys); freshmen Paulomi Goel (3 Silver Keys) and Ottilie Happold; and eighth-grader Celestial Hou.

The Fox Chapel Area Honorable Mention winners were juniors Karsten Buchert, Akshay Lath (4 Honorable Mentions), Mira Owens, Sarah Rached (4 Honorable Mentions) and Yixin Zhang (2 Honorable Mentions); freshmen Lily Fill and Paulomi Goel (3 Honorable Mentions); and seventh-grader Samuel Ettinger.

Students from 42 schools from across the greater Pittsburgh area participated in the regional competition.  The award winners were selected by a panel of distinguished judges which included artists, art educators and art professionals.

In addition, twenty-two Fox Chapel Area School District students won awards for their submissions in the 2025 Pittsburgh Region Scholastic Writing Awards.

Gold Keys were won by Fox Chapel Area High School senior Gabriella Hample, sophomore HanYing Zhang and freshman Eliana Wellman; and Dorseyville Middle School eighth-graders Kai Galyardt, Celestial Hou, Brooke Nalevanko and Carly Phatak. All seven of these Fox Chapel Area School District students have qualified for national judging, and the winners will be announced by Scholastics in March. Additionally, Gabriella was named an American Voices nominee for the Pittsburgh region, the highest award that can be given in the competition. Her piece titled, “My Museum” was submitted in the personal essay and memoir category. She will be invited to read an excerpt from her winning piece at the regional recognition ceremony.

Silver Keys were awarded to Fox Chapel Area High School sophomores Nadre Digbohou and HanYing Zhang; freshman Divya Thirumala; and eighth-graders Rebecca Dorneich (2 Silver Keys), Stella Miller, Anaia Shehzad, Giselle Silva, Jack Teschke and Maya Vyas.

Honorable Mentions went to Fox Chapel Area High School senior Rohit Velankar; sophomore Nadre Digbohou; freshman Divya Thirumala (2 Honorable Mentions); and eighth-graders Rebecca Dorneich, Avery Graham, Adelynn Hunter, Zoey Liu, Mara Menges, Layla Niggel and Julia Olivieri.

Hundreds of submissions spanning a variety of different genres of writing were received from students in grades 7-12 from across Allegheny County. The local competition is sponsored by the Point Park University Honors Program.