Cypress Ranch High School has once again proven that creativity thrives in Mustang Country. This year, students brought home 23 awards from the prestigious Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, earning recognition across photography, drawing, poetry, personal essays, flash fiction, speculative fiction and screenplays. Awards ranged from Gold Keys and Silver Keys to Honorable Mentions, a testament to the range and depth of talent on campus.
Among the standout winners is junior Addison Hendricks, whose deeply personal poem “Sewn Shut” earned a Gold Key.
“I wasn’t sure my piece alone was going to make Gold Key,” Hendricks said. “I thought it wouldn’t even place at all.”
The poem, rich with sewing motifs and symbolism, explores themes of emotional confinement and isolation. Hendricks wrote the piece during a period when she felt “very isolated,” even while surrounded by people in her life.
“It’s called Sewn Shut, so it has a lot of sewing motifs and symbolism,” she explained. “I wanted to embrace the fact that I felt almost confined, emotionally restrained. That theme is very consistent throughout the whole poem.”
While the topic of emotional restraint is not uncommon in literature, Hendricks believes her unique use of symbolism helped set the piece apart.
“It illustrates a topic that’s been covered numerous times,” she said, “but it’s conveyed in a way that ties everything back to confinement. It’s very consistent and fluent. I think that’s what made them choose it.”
For Hendricks, the award represents more than recognition, it represents validation.
“For a while, I doubted my abilities as a writer,” she said. “Being recognized like that makes me realize that I have talent, that other people see something in my work that I may not see.”
Although she had considered submitting her writing last year, self-doubt held her back. This year, she decided to take the leap.
“I did it solely out of curiosity,” Hendricks said. “I just wanted to get my work out there and see what other people think.”
Junior Jordyn Adams also earned recognition, taking home a Silver Key for a black-and-white self-portrait photograph tied to her AP Art portfolio theme of superstition.
“It was definitely a different process,” Adams said. “I was trying something new, and it worked out.”
The photograph plays with imagery of broken glass and reflection, symbolizing both superstition and self-examination.
“It’s kind of a self-reflection piece,” Adams said. “Looking into broken glass, it ties into superstition, but also into looking at yourself in a mirror. It has a deeper meaning.”
Adams believes the visual elements of the piece may have captured the judges’ attention.
“Maybe the black-and-white element was very eye-catching,” she said. “And the realism in it.”
For Adams, art has been a lifelong passion.
“I’ve been doing it since elementary school,” he said. “I really fell in love with the process. You start from something blank and build it into something unique to yourself.”
She says watching his own improvement over the years has been one of the most rewarding aspects of continuing art through high school.
“Looking at the end product and thinking about how long it took, the different techniques I used, that’s my favorite part,” Adams said. “It definitely motivates me.”
Adams credits her teacher, Ms. McKnight, for encouraging her to submit his work.
“She’s always been encouraging with submitting to competitions,” she said. “I also like going through the Scholastic galleries and seeing everyone’s pieces. They’re very unique and personal.”
The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are among the nation’s most prestigious programs for creative teens, recognizing originality, technical skill and emerging artistic voices. For Cypress Ranch’s 23 award winners, the recognition highlights not only talent, but courage…the courage to submit deeply personal work and share it with the world.
From poems stitched with symbolism to photographs fractured through glass, Mustang artists continue to prove that creativity here is not only alive…it’s award-winning.