Seventeen students from South Lakes were awarded for their contribution to the Regional Scholastic Art Awards competition.

These students were just a few of the many participants, whose total number of entries numbered higher than 2,000.

A total of 20 awards were earned between the 17 students, whose entries ranged from ceramics to photography. Of the 20 awards seven were Gold Key, four were Silver Key, and nine were Certificates of Merit.

Winners of a gold key award will move on to compete in the national competition and include juniors Sara Elbayya and Margaret Flemings along with one sophomore, Astrid Favre. Seniors Marc Dessauvage, Maya Gentry, Anum Kayani, and Kadira Saadiq also earned a gold key award.

“I almost feel taken aback because I’ve never won anything before,” Gentry said. “It’s really a great experience knowing that something that you’ve created is good enough to win any sort of award.”

Gentry’s entry was a clay made head which was entered into the sculpture category. Friend and classmate, junior Max Miller, also entered the competition and earned two silver key rankings, one for each of her ceramic entries.

“It feels really good and I’m happy.” Miller said. “One of the pieces was my brother’s birthday present, so I had to steal that in the middle of the night to send it.”

Both students were prompted to enter the competition by their art teacher, Marco Rando.

 “I see the way a student treats there work,” Rando said “I see their work ethic and the way they approach the artistic problem that I give. Their exploration, their experimentation, their natural creative process. Usually students, they’re hard working, but at the same time they work very naturally.”

Rando also won recognition from the Scholastic Art Awards during his time in high school and is very proud that his students did the same.

“I think that for the first time I really felt immense joy,” Rando said “I would like to feel that I was responsible in some way for their success, but it’s mostly them.”

Many of the students who participated in the competition were originally prompted by their respective art teachers.

For a complete list of winners click here. You can also learn more about the Scholastic Art Awards here.