Ravenwood Junior Earns Gold Scholastic Award

Published April 2, 2015

Ravenwood Junior Sasha Madden earned national recognition in the Scholastic Art & Writing awards of 2015 by earning a Gold Medal for her short story.

“There’s definitely something validating about winning a gold key and gold medal because it means someone had the emotional reaction that I wanted them to have, or at least recognized technical skill worth rewarding,” said Sasha. “It also means that my writing has an impact on people, that others think I’m good at what I love to do.”

Sasha was identified by panels of creative professionals as among the most talented artists in the nation for her short story. Over 300,000 works were submitted and only the top 1 percent are recognized at the national level.

“We are delighted that one of Ravenwood’s art students earned national recognition,” said RHS art teacher Diane Taylor. “Sasha has shown tremendous artistic skill and ability since enrolling in our art program and has continued to develop her own personal style of expression.”

Margaret Brown, also an art teacher at Ravenwood, agrees.

“Her winning short story is also going to be her focus next year in her AP Studio Art concentration portfolio – what a fantastic opportunity to combine art and writing and showcase both incredible talents,” said Brown.

Sasha was recently accepted into the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts this summer. Plans after high school are constantly changing, but she knows she will continue to be a storyteller and will be pursuing that, whether it means going to a school for visual arts or liberal arts.