Wakefield High School Senior Wins National Gold For Art Portfolio

ARLINGTON, VA — A Wakefield High School student became the first-ever Arlington Public Schools student to win a National Gold for Portfolio at the 2023 Scholastic Awards for Art and Writing.

Along with the award, Wakefield senior Marceline Castrillon earned a scholarship for her work, "A Swan Is Born." Only eight portfolios, including Castrillon’s, were awarded gold nationally.

More than 100,000 teens from across the country and Canada entered more than 260,000 works of art and writing to the 2023 Scholastic Awards. Nearly 2,000 works received national medals this year.

This year’s Arlington Public Schools national award recipients were:

Art Awards – Portfolio Gold Medalist
Marceline Castrillon: “A Swan is Born” Wakefield, Grade 12, Jina Davidson

Art Awards – Gold Medalist
Jayden Pena: “The Boxer” (Photography) Wakefield High School, Grade 9, Jina Davidson

Art Awards – Portfolio Silver Medalist with Distinction
Spencer Strebe: “Anything But Simple” Yorktown High School, Grade 12, Allen Beland

Art Awards – Portfolio Silver Medalist
Nusibha Choudhury: “Correlation Between Nature and Mental Health” Wakefield High School, Grade 12, Susi Brittain
Pia Cruz: “My Garden of Eden” Washington-Liberty High School, Grade 12, Hiromi Isobe

Art Awards – Silver Medalist
Grace Brougham: “Clipped” (Photography) Wakefield High School, Grade 12, Jina Davidson
Marceline Castrillon: “Saint Sebastian” (Digital Art) Wakefield High School, Grade 12, Jina Davidson
Melanie Encias Mendoza: “Practice Makes Perfect” (Drawing & Illustration) Wakefield High School, Grade 10, Peter Fitzgerald
Grace Knight: “Octeapot” (Ceramics & Glass) Yorktown High School, Grade 12, Christine Bolon
Casey Pick: “Armchair Dogs” (Drawing & Illustration) H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program, Grade 11, Faylinda Kodis
Theresa Provasnik: “Flora” (Ceramics & Glass) Yorktown High School, Grade 12, Christine Bolon
Emily Williams: “Toy Story” (Painting) Washington-Liberty High School, Grade 9, Hiromi Isobe

Art Awards – American Visions Medal
Lola Calderon Roush: “Centipede” (Drawing & Illustration) Washington-Liberty, Grade 11, Hiromi Isobe

The Regional Scholastic Art Awards is a national program in its 100th year. It recognizes outstanding creativity in teens and offers scholarship opportunities for graduating high school seniors.

Teens in grades 7-12 can apply in 29 categories of art and writing for the chance to earn scholarships and have their works exhibited or published. The national nonprofit organization that presents the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards will honor students on June 8 at a gala celebration at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Selected award recipients and high school seniors recognized with top honors will have their art exhibited at Parsons the New School for Design in New York.