Your Child's Scholastic Awards Journey: A Strategic Path from Grade 7 to Grade 12
For parents of young artists, competitions can sometimes feel confusing. When should your child start? How important is winning? And how can participation in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards support your child's artistic growth over time?
The answer is simple: starting early gives students time to grow.
The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards journey should not be viewed as a one-time competition. For many students, it can become a valuable opportunity to develop technical skills, strengthen creative thinking, gain experience presenting their work, and gradually build a meaningful record of artistic achievement.
The most successful approach is to think long term. Each year provides an opportunity for your child to develop stronger skills, more original ideas, and greater confidence.
Grades 7–8: Participate and Build
Middle school is an excellent time for students to begin participating in competitions.
At this stage, parents should focus less on major awards and more on helping their child gain experience. Students are still developing their technical abilities and discovering their creative interests.
The goal is to help them understand what competition-level artwork requires.
Students can focus on:
• Participating consistently
• Aiming for Honorable Mention
• Building technical skills
• Developing stronger concepts and original ideas
• Learning how to create competition-level work
These early experiences can help students become more comfortable receiving feedback, developing original work, and challenging themselves creatively.
Most importantly, starting early gives students time to grow without the pressure of needing major recognition immediately.
Grade 9: Start Building a Strong Award Record
By Grade 9, students can begin taking a more intentional approach to competition.
After gaining experience in middle school, students may be ready to create stronger individual works and aim for higher levels of Regional recognition.
Students can focus on:
• Targeting Silver Keys and Gold Keys
• Strengthening technical skills and concept development
• Creating stronger individual works
• Building a meaningful record of achievement
For parents, Grade 9 can be an important starting point for long-term planning. Students who participate consistently throughout high school have more opportunities to improve their work and build upon previous experiences.
Grade 10: Strengthen the Record
Grade 10 is an important year for building momentum.
Students should continue developing more sophisticated work while strengthening their artistic voice. At this stage, the goal is not simply to create more artwork, but to create work that is increasingly distinctive, thoughtful, and technically strong.
Students can focus on:
• Earning additional Silver Keys and Gold Keys
• Creating more sophisticated and distinctive artwork
• Developing a stronger artistic direction
• Beginning preparation for National-level recognition
As students mature, their artwork should demonstrate more than technical ability. Strong competition work often reflects originality, creative thinking, and a clear personal perspective.
Grades 11–12: Aim for National Recognition
The final years of high school are an opportunity for students to aim higher.
By this point, students who have participated consistently may have developed stronger technical foundations, greater creative confidence, and a meaningful record of Regional recognition.
Students can begin focusing on:
• Targeting a National Silver Medal
• Targeting a National Gold Medal
• Creating highly developed and distinctive artwork
• Building a strong record of artistic achievement for college applications
National recognition can represent an important milestone, but the years of growth leading up to it are equally valuable.
A student who has consistently developed their skills, ideas, and portfolio over several years is often better prepared to create ambitious and meaningful work.
Understanding the Journey
A student's path may look something like this:
Participate → Honorable Mention → Silver Key → Gold Key → National Silver Medal → National Gold Medal
Of course, every student's journey is different. Awards cannot be guaranteed, and artistic growth does not always follow a straight line.
However, consistent participation gives students more opportunities to learn, improve, and challenge themselves.
Why Starting Early Matters
For parents, one of the greatest advantages of starting early is time.
Students need time to develop technical skills. They need time to experiment with different ideas and discover their own artistic interests. They also need time to learn from feedback and understand what makes their work stronger.
Waiting until the final years of high school can create unnecessary pressure.
Starting earlier allows students to grow naturally and build confidence step by step.
The goal is not simply to collect awards. The goal is to help your child become a stronger artist with better skills, stronger ideas, and a more developed creative voice.
Start Early. Build Skills. Develop Ideas. Accumulate Recognition. Aim National.
A successful Scholastic Awards journey begins with participation.
With consistent practice, thoughtful guidance, and long-term planning, each year can become another step in your child's artistic development.
Start early. Build skills. Develop ideas. Accumulate recognition. Aim for National achievement.
The journey may begin with a single submission, but the experience gained over time can help your child build confidence, develop an impressive body of work, and reach their highest artistic potential.
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