Exonians capture 20 medals in Scholastic competition

Students honored by nation’s longest-running arts and writing awards program.

By
Sarah Pruitt '95
March 24, 2022

“The World in Black and White II” by Danielle J. Sung ’22

Fourteen students from Exeter combined to win 20 national medals in the 2022 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, announced Wednesday.

More than 100,000 teens from across the country and Canada entered more than 260,000 works in the nation’s longest-running recognition program for teen writers and artists, now in its 99th year. Nearly 2,000 works were recognized with national medals.

Danielle J. Sung ’22 took home an impressive four medals for her artwork, winning a gold for “May You All Rest In Power” and silver medals for “What Hands Tell Us,” “Mr. President” and “The World in Black and White II.”

In addition to a gold medal, Kaylee Chen ’23 was awarded the American Voices Medal, one of the highest writing honors in the competition, for her piece “How to Learn a Language.”

A recipient of a silver medal last year, Daniel Zhang ’22 won gold this year — twice — for his works “I’m Not Brave” and “Sorry.” Alexandria Westray ’22 was another consecutive winner, taking home a silver medal for “A Poorwoman's Reflection.”

Finally, Kendrah Su ’22 won a gold medal for her personal essay “Root Removal,” completing a dazzling run over her four years at Exeter. In all, Suh has captured seven gold medals and two silvers for her writing.

This year’s honorees join the ranks of past winners including poets Sylvia Plath and Amanda Gorman; writers John Updike, Joyce Carol Oates, Joyce Maynard ’71 and Stephen King; artists Richard Avedon and Andy Warhol; filmmakers Ken Burns and Richard Linklater; and actors Robert Redford, John Lithgow and Lena Dunham. Past judges of the competition have included such luminaries as Langston Hughes, Robert Frost, Judy Blume, Billy Collins, Edwidge Danticat, David Sedaris, Nikki Giovanni, Andres Serrano and Kiki Smith.  

A complete list of Exeter's 2022 honorees:

Tony Cai ’23, silver
David Chen ’23, gold
Kaylee Chen ’23, gold & American Voices
Bailey Cooper ’22, gold
Sabrina Kearney ’22, one gold, one silver
Roxane Park ’25, gold
Sunghyun Park ’24, silver
Hannah Rubin ’23, gold
Kendrah Su ’22, gold
Minjae Suh ’25, silver
Danielle J. Sung ’22, one gold, three silvers
Alexandria Westray ’22, silver
Andrew Yuan ’24, gold
Daniel Zhang ’22, gold