Four gold key winners have been named at Gloucester High School in photography and writing. Juniors Marisa Enes and Marcos Trejo as well as senior Joshua Skalski won the awards in Photography. Senior Cara Burley won the award in the Personal Essay/Memoir category.

Each year, the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards reach out to over 100 organizations and communities allowing students in grades 7-12 to submit their work for recognition. These students have the opportunity to compete for the National Awards by submitting their work in one of the 29 categories. Those who win nationals will be recognized at a ceremony held in New York City.

“It’s an honor to get this award,” said Enes, “I was excited to see that my photo was picked.”

Skalski’s submission was created when he was just experimenting with photography. He had an assignment to incorporate primary colors in his photography. When his teacher, Emily Harney, told him about the competition, he did not expect his photo to be awarded the Gold Key.

“The piece for me represents feeling restricted by a need to okay all the time,” explained Skalski. “People always feel like when they’re asked ‘How are you?’ they have to respond with ‘I’m good.’”

Burley submitted a writing piece about society’s outlook on the lesbian community.

“It’s about how guys fetishize the thought of girls being with other girls and that’s all that people see,” she said. “It’s a lot more than that.”

Senior Kylie MacDonald and freshman Sedona Gillard earned Silver Key awards for Photography. They, as well as the Gold Key winners, are eligible to attend the awards ceremony and celebration at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

Seven students received an Honorable Mention Award. In Photography, Vidriana Catanzaro won two Honorable Mentions, and Julia Johnson earned one as well. Johnson also won an award for her Flash Fiction submission. The Drawing and Illustration submissions were made by Christina Lane and Rachel Nearis. Lastly is Caroline Enos, with an award in Mixed Media. 

“I was really cool to be an honorable mention because it’s a really hard process to go through,” explained Enos “the judges are very specific about what they like.”