Welcome to Shine, the digital version of Young Authors of Arizona’s Best Arizona Teen Writing of 2016 anthology: by young authors, for Arizona, earned publication through the Scholastic Writing Awards. YAA is one of only two Scholastic Art & Writing affiliates in America making our own “best of” book, and this summer YAA wants you to co-author the digital version by sharing your art, lesson plans, and other convergence media contributions to the book’s print compositions.
YAA, created to help young authors show-and-tell language and media arts, welcomes you, the reader, the teacher, the parent, the librarian, the partner organization, the partner business, and especially you, the aspiring young author, to help language and media arts converge in Arizona by “reading” and “writing” this Convergence: Best Arizona Teen Writing of 2016 digital page.
“Shine” by helping digitize the book
Do you know that, combined, Arizona now has over 1,700 middle schools and high schools and many home schools, each with potential storytellers? Media exposure too-often lets the wrong people define Arizona, and Arizonans, so maybe it’s time to create page space for Arizona’s grade 7-12 authors–writers and artists–as well as language and media arts community experts.
Opportunities to incorporate content from 2016 Arizona Scholastic Art & Writing Awards entries
If you click the below links, check out YAA’s 2016 gallery widgets to see art and writing displayed from this year’s entries.
Arizona’s Scholastic Writing Awards home page: See all 252 Arizona Silver Key, Gold Key, and National Medalist works through the Best of AZ Teen Writing 2016 widget on the right-hand side of the web page.
Arizona’s Scholastic Art Awards home page: See all 56 Arizona Silver Key, Gold Key, and National Medalist works through the Best of AZ Teen Art 2016 widget on the right-hand side of the web page.
Previewing the 105 compositions you can contribute to this summer
Previewing Shine‘s development, consider what 71 Young Authors of Arizona have to tell. Soon you’ll be able to click on the links below to read the work and participate by creating and using related lesson plans, as well as create and use related works, shared by Young Authors of Arizona with you.
Arizona Convergence | editor introduction by Billy Gerchick
SENIOR PORTFOLIOS
An Electric Urgency | portfolio introduction by Navya Dasari
Passion | poetry
Crescendo | personal narrative
Oasis | poetry
Shakti | critical essay
Bridging Divides or Banning Discussion? | journalism
To India in Forrest Fire | poetry
This is a Blessing | poetry
Twin Storms Hit | poetry
First Summer Back | flash fiction
Are they Water Lillies? | portfolio introduction by Nailah Mathews
Cupid’s Bow | poetry
Chasing Infinity | personal narrative
colour safe bleach. | short story
dear white heterosexual male | poetry
Windows | personal narrative
Esurient | science fiction-fantasy
The Sun in Our Teeth | short story
Water and Chocolate | flash fiction
PERSONAL NARRATIVE
The Other | Kimaya Lecamwasam
Printed Voice | Hyeji (Julie) Cho
Mechanical Heart | Allison Boyce
The Birth of Creativity | Amanda Gong
Where is My Home Sweet Home? | Jane Wang
The Fears of a Black Belt | Audrey Ennis
Title; 5 Down: the Name of a Story | Michelle Goldberg
No Longer Sleeping Soundly | Aman Agarwal
Mind Meadows | Grace Gay
Aly Fell | Taylor Shewchuk
Home | Angela Hemesath
Satisfied by | Mandri Randeniya
An Inspiration | Akshar Pandia
Surviving Post-Paradise | Hannah Weisman
HUMOR
Urban Lemmings | Justin Zhu
Advice for Parenting | Daniela Ramras
Something Wicked | Alex Cohen
The Great Emancipator | Emma He
CRITICAL ESSAY
On Technology | Justin Zhu
Elsa’s Personality Disorder | Katie Frye
Taking Up Arms: An Exploration of War in Homer’s Iliad | Simon Essig Aberg
Pay for Play? | Yash Pershad
Food Aid Reform | Logan McAvoy
Renewing the World | Miguel Opena
JOURNALISM
The Trail of Teams | Kamren Gilbard
Red Ants, Pythons, and Dog Meat | Madeline Shuler
Teenage Zombies Crave… Sleep? | Lauren Appel
No Child Left Alive | Kamren Gilbard
POETRY
Where I’m From | Kaly Arvizu
We Are Many Languages – The Basket | Kaly Arvizu
In Case You Die Out There | Heather Jensen
Terminal Trait of Curiosity | Katie Barnhart
From Now Until Then | Amaya Lim
A Whisper in the Frost | Isabel Marshall
I Might Be Young But We Are Not | Kara Sherman
To the Girl Who Sits in the Back of Math Class | Madison Waaler
Bloody Mary | Sophie Sieckmann
The Civilization of Morals | Gloria Martinez
The Green-Eyed Feline Casino | Gloria Martinez
teetering | Grace Gay
Love in The Time of Numbers | Alexandra Karaim
Faces | Samantha Locklear
The Craft of the Alphabet | Justin Zhu
Jewels | Alex Cohen
On Taking the SAT | Alex Cohen
I Remember | Jillian Gilburne
How Dare I | Hannah Cooper
String Theory | Zoe Isaac
Judge Not | Evan Lamb
It | Evan Lamb
Dust Bowl | Ruohan Miao
Scream | Amanda Pruett
Highest | Joseph Scaven
Rolling Waves | Kolbe Riney
Hinged On a Golden Age | Kolbe Riney
Distractions | Hyeji (Julie) Cho
Chicks | Anvita Gupta
The American | Lina Khan
The Housewife | Lina Khan
The Site of the Storm | Misako Yamazaki
Purple Hands and Goldfish Eyes | Misako Yamazaki
Self-Destruction | Brenley Markowitz
FLASH FICTION
Apathy Did Not Become Her | Carolina Mesquita
A Tight-Dress Ghost | Allison Boyce
President’s Drink | Kathleen Wu
The Squirrels Are Mocking Me | Grover Greenberg
The Woman with the Shoes | Molly Maricle
Elizabeth McHenry | Malavika Krishnan
Draft Day | Varun Kukunoor
Time of Death | Malavika Krishnan
Flowers | Hee Won Park
Storms on a Cliff Edge | Stirling McDaniel
SHORT STORY
The Girl and the Bear | Amy Schneider
A Boy Named Andrew, A Girl Named Elena | Andrew Rangel
Nothing Boy | Sue Kim
Tom and the Cold Heart | Alexandra Karaim
Within the Walls | Julia Gonzalez–Caro
Lost Your Chips | Nathaniel Larreau
Storm | Rachael Merkt
A Walk of Hope in the Arizona Desert | Sharon Marie Vaz
DRAMATIC SCRIPT
Rockstars | Amanda Pruett
SCIENCE FICTION-FANTASY
Garden | Matty Ortega
Split Second | Daniel Flores
The Message Runner | Aden Polydoros
Legs | Aden Polydoros
The Day America Died | Rachel Cannon
Morbidity | Shelby Coup
Glint in the Overcast Sky | Audrey Ennis
Enter the 2016 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards by December 16, 2015
So what language and media arts authorship will you submit to the Awards by this Wednesday, December 16th, Arizona’s upload and postmark deadline for the 2016 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards?
Five steps to enter the 2016 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards:
1. Create your Scholastic Account
Students can begin creating 2016 art and writing works as early as desired; starting in mid-September, students and educators can register your accounts at: artandwriting.org/Registration.
2. Access, read, & share YAA’s 2015 participation materials
Anyone can go to YAArizona.org or YAA’s Scholastic Art & Writing Awards affiliate page to access, read, and share YAA’s 2016 Scholastic Writing Awards Participation Guide or its 2016 Scholastic Art Awards Guide. For display, print and post YAA’s “BLOOM!” classroom poster.
3. Submit your work(s) according to Awards category specifications
Because YAA now accepts entries for art and writing in 28 different Scholastic Awards categories, pay attention to category-specific submission requirements and remember to:
- Review category descriptions and guidelines.
- Revise, edit, and proofread your work.
Tech note: You can upload your work to the Awards and edit that work, without having to re-submit, until 9:59 MST on Wednesday, December 16th.
4. Print and complete each work’s entry form
In addition to completing account registration and submitting work, each student must:
- Print the submission form for each entry.
- Obtain required signatures from a teacher and guardian on each entry form. Guardian signatures are not required if the student is 18 years or older.
5. Mail forms and payment by December 16, 2015
Submission is complete once you mail your signed submission forms and payment (if applicable) and they are received by YAA. Please mail your envelope as soon as possible, but it must be postmarked by December 16th. Individual submission entries are as follows:
- $5 per work (submit as many entries as desired)
- $20 per portfolio submission (12th graders only)
- Some students can qualify for a fee waiver
Benefits of entering the Awards and participating as mentors
- Each submission is eligible for scholarships and an invitation to the national ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York.
- Earn Honorable Mention, Silver Key, or Gold Key Certificate for the State of Arizona and an invite to YAA’s Scholastic Awards Ceremony in April of 2015.
- Select Gold Key and Silver Key-winning compositions offered publication in the Best Arizona Teen Writing of 2016 book; 2016 “best of” art publication opportunities will also be available.
- Educators can use Awards as a 1st semester tool for enrichment, PLC collaboration, and portfolio-based assessment of Common Core-aligned writing projects.
- Educators earn professional development credit as a YAA volunteer judge, from home.
- More benefits available, including YAA partnerships with other organizations.
