This morning, St. Johns Country Day School opened the 2024 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards Art Show in its Nichols Family Art Gallery. The show, the Gallery’s first since its opening in September 2023, hosts student art that received either a Silver Key or Honorable Mention in the Northeast Florida regional Scholastic Art Awards competition. Gold Key works are on display at the Jacksonville Main Library and were displayed in a video at the show. (You can view that Gold Key video right here.)
After making the announcements at flag raising and taking a few photos, students, parents, and faculty went to the Gallery for coffee, breakfast, and art. A total of 41 St. Johns students were honored for receiving 84 awards in the 2024 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. Judges from across northeast Florida reviewed over 3,000 art entries ranging from 16 visual art categories. Out of these, there were over 400 regional Gold Keys awarded, and St. Johns is proud to hold 21 of them. The School’s artists were also awarded 24 Silver Keys and 39 Honorable Mentions.
“We are always blown away by the quality of our student’s art and this year is no exception,” said Visual Arts Department Chair Anna Reynolds. “We are particularly proud to hold 21 of the 400 regional Gold Keys awarded, a testament to the hard work and talent of our student-artists.”
This year’s award winners include:
| Haleema Ali ‘27 | Cayden Ingram ‘28 | Kate Pappas ‘29 |
| Xavier Baez ‘25 | Mia Johnson ‘25 | Luke Peterson ‘25 |
| Frances Bailey ‘25 | Isa Johnson ‘28 | Izzy Quickstad ‘28 |
| Caden Brown ‘26 | Alexandra Kuczkowski ‘28 | Ishta Ramroop ‘26 |
| Regan Butler ‘25 | Roxy Mathews ‘24 | Reyden Rivera ‘26 |
| Carys Cain ‘28 | Vedant Mathur ‘28 | Brennan Rowzee ‘28 |
| Gracie Castleman ‘27 | Brice McClellan ‘26 | Emma Smith ‘28 |
| Dominique Clark ‘27 | Sophia McClellan ‘28 | Audrey Steckler ‘28 |
| Ainsley Costarakis ‘25 | Grace McNulty ‘25 | Emily Steckler ‘26 |
| Westin Cowherd ‘25 | Grayson Moody ‘25 | Celine Torkzad ‘27 |
| Rowan Fix ‘25 | Caris Morgan ‘28 | Alexandria Valencia ‘28 |
| Anna Galnor ‘25 | Matilda Morris ‘29 | Reagan Wagstaff ‘25 |
| Kelsey Gregson ‘25 | Zach Navarro ‘28 | Brynn White '25 |
| Hana Hutsell ‘27 | Gabriela Oceguera ‘25 |
Students were also honored by the Northeast Florida Scholastic Affiliate at an Awards Ceremony Saturday, February 17 at the Florida Theatre.
In judging submissions, jurors look for works that exemplify the Awards’ core values: originality, technical skill, and the emergence of a personal voice or vision.
Since 1923, the Scholastic Awards have recognized some of America’s most celebrated artists and writers while they were teenagers, including: Tschabalala Self, Stephen King, Kay WalkingStick, Charles White, Joyce Carol Oates, and Andy Warhol.
- Middle School
- Upper School
- Visual Arts