There is no Awty without Art and Writing

On March 5, Awty had their third annual Art and Writing Ceremony. This ceremony celebrated the arts and writing community at school through bringing together students, parents, and teachers for this event. The ceremony showed how much Awty has grown as a supportive environment for the arts. 

As said by Ane Ebie-Mouton, the organizer of the ceremony, “at Awty, every space is an art and writing space.”

The main spectacle of the ceremony was the spoken word poetry performances by Awty students. There were 4 performances by 7th, 8th, 10th, and 11th grade classes. Most of the performances at the ceremony focused on themes of culture and identity. 

One of the performances, which was by the 11th grade IB Literature and Performance class, was a collaborative response to Lucille Clifton’s poems about identity. Lucy Holt stated that the purpose of this performance was “to demonstrate and advertise different performances as a class to show what we’ve been working on this year.”

Additionally, students’ works of art and writing were displayed around the Yan Library during the ceremony. Art pieces were hung up and put on exhibit, and writing pieces were printed onto posters and put around. People attending the ceremony could look through these pieces to see the creativity at Awty through these amazing artists and writers. 

Sophomore Clea-Rose Deschanel-Pathman was one of the writers with one of her works on display. She commented that many teachers were curious to learn more about her poetry after reading it, and that she felt the ceremony gave “a vibe of full spirit of community.”

During the ceremony, students who participated in the Scholastic Art and Writing competition were awarded with a certificate and a book. This year Awty highly encouraged students to participate in this competition, which is “the nation’s longest-running, most prestigious program for creative teens” according to Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. Over 100 students at school submitted pieces to the competition, and many of them won keys and honorable mentions. 

The Awty Art and Writing Award is another award given to both students and teachers at the ceremony. They were given this award because of their contribution to the arts at school. The award represents the strong culture of art and writing as the letters A and W stand for Art and Writing, holding up the school logo to give the message that art and writing hold up Awty. 

Overall, Awty hosted a successful celebration of art and writing through the ceremony. The school strives to continue to grow the creative community as “there is no Awty without Art and Writing.”