Literary Arts Celebrates the 2026 Midwest Region Scholastic Writing Awards

February 25, 2026

Perpich Literary Arts students and staff are celebrating a year of Scholastic Awards hard work and success! We are very pleased to announce the 2026 Midwest Region Scholastic Writing Awards! Congratulations to the Perpich Gold Key, Silver Key, and Honorable Mention award winners and our inspiring faculty!

• 1 Gold Key award: Anais Froberg-Martinez, Poetry Library
• 1 Silver Key award: Rose Slag, Speculative Fiction SmarterChild
• 1 Honorable Mention award: Jesse Vanderheiden, Poetry Costume

“I went into Scholastic with the intention of only submitting my journalism pieces, so winning the Gold Key for my poetry was a pleasant surprise,” said Anais Froberg-Martinez (Literary Arts 2027). “Kevin [Lally] encouraged me to submit a poem that I had written for an assignment about place, and human relationship to spaces. I realized that the library, often regarded as an indestructible sanctuary for fighting censorship and political repression, is not completely removed from the issues it fights.”

Reflecting on which submitted pieces receive recognition and which ones do not, Froberg-Martinez added, “While many students take the Scholastic awards very seriously, I think there’s a danger in letting one national competition set the standard for your work, so I would encourage all students to fight for expressing their work on a platform that cares about its context.”

Kevin Lally, Literary Arts Instructor, said, “I’m so proud of these writers for submitting to this contest, and a special congratulations to our award winners. Submitting work to Scholastics, or any contest, is an act of faith in oneself. For these students, their faith in themselves is well-earned and well-rewarded.”

Gold Key works have been automatically advanced to the national level of judging in New York City. All 2026 national award recipients will be announced on March 25, 2026.

The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards were founded in 1923 and, for more than a century, have inspired bold ideas in creative teens throughout the country. All entries are first considered regionally for Gold Key, Silver Key, and Honorable Mention awards. Entries that win a Gold Key are automatically considered for National Awards, including Gold Medal, Silver Medal, and scholarship awards. Jurors look for works that exemplify the Awards’ core values: originality, skill, and the emergence of a personal voice or vision.