Grace Reagan, a junior art student at The John Cooper School, has earned a national recognition in the 2016 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, a Gold Medal for her sculpture, entitled “The Last Straw.”

Approximately 320,000 works of art and writing were submitted to this year’s competition and only the top one percent has been awarded at the national level.

Reagan and her teacher, Visual Arts Department Chair Bob Mosier, have been invited to an awards ceremony at the world-famous Carnegie Hall on June 2 and will attend with students from around the country who will be recognized. Also achieving national recognition were two juniors: Sadie Robb, who was awarded a Silver Medal for her short story, “Chasing Trains,” and Grace Lawson, for her photograph, entitled “Life and Liberty.”

Since 1923, the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards have recognized students in grades 7-12 from across the country. Noted recipients include Andy Warhol, Sylvia Plath, Truman Capote, Richard Avedon, Robert Redford, Lena Dunham and filmmaker Ken Burns, who will receive the Alumni Achievement Award this year’s ceremony in New York City.

The John Cooper School is an independent, college preparatory school for students in Pre-K through Grade 12. www.johncooper.org