Dear Affiliates,
I want to thank everyone for helping to make the 90th Anniversary of The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards a great success. From the first submissions in the middle of September to the Student Showcase on the first day of June, your hard work and commitment helped create a positive impact on the lives of thousands of creative teenagers.
Pictured with the Portfolio Gold Medalists, (rear center L to R) Alliance Executive Directory Virginia McEnerney, fashion designer Zac Posen, poet Terrance Hayes, actress and arts advocate Sarah Jessica Parker, and entertainer Usher, backstage atCarnegie Hall for the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards in New York, May 31, 2013. (INSIDER IMAGES/Stuart Ramson for Scholastic)
Looking Ahead
And though the 2013 program year is coming to a close, we continue to work to make theAwards program better and stronger. Our focus for the 2014 program year will be to continue to develop the board of directors of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, grow the number of writing submissions and the number of works submitted by boys, increase the number of scholarships offered to Award-winning student and better track those scholarships, and focus on expanding affiliate coverage in western states.
The mega-region meetings that were started last year will be held again this year so that we may continue to enhance interaction, understanding and communication between the national office and the Regional Affiliate Programs. The schedule is currently set as the following:
Northeast (New York, NY)
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Midwest (Chicago, IL)
Saturday, September 28, 2013
West (Denver, CO)
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Southwest (Austin, TX)*
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Southeast (Charlotte, NC)**
Saturday, October 12, 2013
In that spirit, I want to thank the 46 affiliate programs who participated in the Affiliate Leadership Conference during National Events. The conference produced a lot of valuable feedback. I hope that those of you who were not able to attend will take a moment to review the conference materials posted to Robbie’s Room and let us know if you have any questions or suggestions.
*Please note: this is a date change from October 5.
**Please note: several Southeast affiliates mentioned at the leadership conference that this date presents a significant conflict. Please email Jermaine to indicate if Saturday, October 19 is a better time.
Affiliate Advisory Council
A special thank you to our three outgoing members, Andrea Haas, Diane Waff and Jacque Dawson of the Affiliate Advisory Council (AAC). Your service has been very valuable to the organization and the affiliate network. Friday was the deadline to submit nominations for new committee members. I look forward to deepening my work with the AAC to strengthen the affiliate network.
Summer Outreach
Over the course of this past year, we have discovered a disproportionately low number of boys participating in the Scholastic Writing Awards and we have decided to spend time focusing on improving this imbalance.
This summer, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards will be hosting free writing workshops for boys in grades 7-12. We will be partnering with the Cleveland Institute of the Art in Cleveland, OH; Writopia Lab in Washington, DC; Beeber Dimner Middle School in Philadelphia, PA; and 826 Michigan in Detroit, MI.
These workshops invite boys to tell and share their stories, experiment, and express their creativity in a fun and supportive environment. Each workshop will provide a guide on how-to submit to the Awards.
Kat! -- moving, but not leaving
Kat Hendrix will be relocating to Portland, OR at the beginning of July. Kat will stay on as a full-time member of our team, and we anticipate a seamless transition,with continued input and direction from her on all program and affiliate work.
Having Kat located in the Pacific Northwest gives the Alliance a greater level of access to the western portion of the country, and will help us meet our goal of expanding the affiliate network there to help reach more young artists and writers.
All best,
Virginia
Virginia McEnerney
Executive Director
Alliance for Young Artists & Writers
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The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers presents The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards: Celebrating 90 years as the most prestigious recognition and scholarship program for creative teens.
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