The Literary Arts Department may now add additional Scholastic awards to its portfolio after 5 students received national medalists notifications in the National Scholastic Writing competition.

Students Kerri Bland (Senior from Pontotoc), Chloe Russell (Senior from Monticello), Imani Skipwith (Senior from Jackson), Savannah Phelps (Senior from Magnolia), and Maleigh Crespo (Junior from Columbia) all received the notification in April 2020. Gold Medalists will be recognized at the national ceremony in New York this summer. The National Scholastic Writing competition is represented by students all over the nation. Students who receive national recognition represent less than 1% of the total works submitted. National medalists have been identified by panels of creative professionals as the most talented young artists and writers in the nation.

Mississippi School of the Arts is proud the recognize these students:

Kerri Bland received a Silver Medal with Distinction in the Writing Portfolio category for work entitied The Places We Call Home.

Maleigh Crespo received a Silver Medal in the Poetry category for work entitled Remember Who You Are.

Savannah Phelps received a Silver Meda in the Short Story category for work entitled Good Kids, Bad Habits.

Chloe Russell received a Silver Medal in the Poetry category for work entitled A Whish For What I’ll Never Have.

Imani Skipwith received a Gold Medal, New York Like Scholarship, and Mississipip State New York Life Award in the Poetry category for work entitled The Nelson – Dortch Family Cemetery. Imani also received a Silver Medal in the Novel Writing category for work entitled Vô Tôi.

The Literary Program has a track history of winning regional and national medals, and improving the portfolio of high school students as they transition to colleges and universities within Mississippi and across the nation.