The district is proud to recognize twenty-three students from Herricks High School and Herricks Middle School who were recently announced as 2026 Regional Scholastic Writing Award winners. 

The Scholastic Writing Awards are the nation’s longest running, most prestigious recognition program for creative teens. Entries are considered regionally for Gold Key, Silver Key and Honorable Mention awards based on skill, originality and the emergence of a personal voice or vision. Students who receive a Gold Key will advance to compete at the national level. 
    
Herricks High School students announced for 2026 Scholastic Writing Awards include:

• Alisha Ahmad (11) – Silver Key | Poetry
• Aleya Bailey (10) – Gold | Personal Essay & Memoir
• Shanice Cai (12) – Honorable Mention | Poetry
• Calista Chan (12) – Honorable Mention | Personal Essay and Memoir
• Lauren Cho (11) – Gold Key | Personal Essay and Memoir
• Vivian Chow (11) – Gold Key | Personal Essay and Memoir
• Rehmat Chugh (10) – Gold Key | Poetry, Silver Key | Poetry
• Fiona Ciccone (11) – Honorable Mention | Personal Essay and Memoir
• Calista Domingo (11) – Silver Key | Poetry, Honorable Mention | Poetry
• Jun Guan (10) – Silver Key | Poetry
• Rachel Ha (12) – Gold Key | Poetry, Silver Key | Poetry, Silver Key | Portfolio, Honorable Mention | Personal Essay and Memoir, Honorable Mention | Poetry
• Angie Hu (11) – Gold Key | Flash Fiction
• Chloe Hui (11) – Silver Key | Poetry 
• Sofia Kerim (11) – Gold Key | Poetry,  
• Kristen Lee (11) – Silver Key | Novel, Honorable Mention | Novel
• Matthew Liu (11) – Honorable Mention | Poetry
• Rhea Mandal (11) – Gold Key | Poetry, Silver Key | Poetry, Honorable Mention | Personal Essay and Memoir, 3 Honorable Mention | Poetry
• Deepika Sadoo (12) – Silver Key | Poetry
• Wenshu Wang (11) – 3 Honorable Mention | Poetry

Herricks Middle School students announced for 2026 Scholastic Writing Awards include:

• Kester Ko (8) – Gold Key | Flash Fiction
• Jayden Lam (7) – Silver Key | Short Story
• Amelia Ma (7) – Silver Key | Novel
• Lauren Quan (8) – Honorable Mention | Flash Fiction

In total, Herricks students from the high school and middle school received a total of 36 awards, including nine Gold Key Awards, twelve Silver Key Awards and fifteen Honorable Mention. 

The district congratulates each of the award winning writers for this outstanding accomplishment and wishes our Gold Key winners the best of luck in the national competition.