{"id":665,"date":"2025-03-18T14:50:35","date_gmt":"2025-03-18T18:50:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/?p=665"},"modified":"2025-11-19T14:43:40","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T19:43:40","slug":"dc-scholastic-ceremony-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.writopialab.org\/writopiaspeaks\/dc-scholastic-ceremony-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"DC Scholastic Ceremony 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Peter Quinn-Jacobs, Operations and Scholastic Awards Affiliate Manager, Writopia Lab and Rita Feinstein, Regional Manager, Writopia DC<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Sunday, March 9th, we celebrated the regional winners of the Scholastic Writing Awards in the DC Metro Area. The ceremony, held at the UDC Theater of the Arts, opened with a high-energy performance by young dancers from District Irish Dance Academy<\/a>. Then we welcomed our procession of award winners up to the mic, where they shared the reasons why they write. We also heard excerpts from pieces that received American Voice nominations; from the total of 2,619 works submitted across the DC region<\/strong>, these 5 pieces stood out as exceptionally strong. Congrats to all of the DC Scholastic AVNs\u2014Michaela Frey, Nadia Lach-Hab, Aigerim Bibol, Tara Prakash, and Aliyah Majeed-Hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This year, we were thrilled to award a new regional prize, the Emerging Voices Award, to Bard High School student Daniel Goldson. This $200 prize, awarded to a piece of writing from a writer in Wards 7 or 8 of DC, was made possible by a generous grant from the Momentus Capital’s Charitable Contributions Committee<\/a>. Congratulations, Daniel!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our keynote speaker\u2014and beloved Writopia instructor!\u2014Liz Lawson shared her personal journey as a writer and commended the bravery and vulnerability of our young writers. Liz is the New York Times bestselling author of The Agathas<\/em> series (co-written with Kathleen Glasgow) and The Lucky Ones<\/em>. Her next book, a YA murder mystery entitled Murder Between Friends<\/em>, releases on April 22nd, 2025. You can learn more about Liz and her writing at https:\/\/www.lizlawsonauthor.com\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To close out the ceremony, graduating senior Tara Prakash<\/a> delivered a beautiful speech about observational writing, pulling inspiration from the world around you, and the importance of connection and community. Tara is a long-time Writopian and a core part of our Creative Portfolio program, and is also a recipient of the highest Scholastic regional honor, a Gold Key for her senior Writing Portfolio. Congrats to Tara and all of our seniors! You will be very missed, but we\u2019re excited to see what the future holds for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Many more thanks are in order! We\u2019d love to extend our gratitude to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n