Tomorrow night, over 660 creative teens from across the country will gather at Carnegie Hall in New York City to be recognized as national recipients of the 2016 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the country's longest-running and most prestigious scholarship and recognition program for students in grades 7–12 – administered by the nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists & Writers.
To learn more; visit www.artandwriting.org 
This year is particularly special as Carnegie Hall celebrates over 125 years of legendary performances.
We also have some very special guests attending tomorrow night's event to celebrate these teen artists and writers including: Alec Baldwin, Billy Collins, Tim Gunn, Sonia Manzano, Hunter March (Awesomeness TV) and more.
Award-winning filmmaker and documentarian Ken Burns, who received a Scholastic Art & Writing Award when he was 17 years old, will be presented with the Alumni Achievement Award. He shared with us his thoughts about receiving a Scholastic Art & Writing Award in his teens years:
“I could not be more honored than to join these young men and women on this extraordinary night. Little could I have imagined when I was 17 and submitted my essay that I would be standing here today. But that essay did, in some ways, influence everything that has come since, both my professional work of course but really every part of my life. The arts and humanities are an essential part of who we are as a people. But as Scholastic so often reminds us, they are equally important to us as individuals. They make our lives richer. I’d like to thank the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers for the recognition tonight – and for that recognition many, many years ago. But most I applaud the Scholastic Awards and the Alliance for all that they do to educate our youth and to keep the arts alive for all us.”
Congratulations to this year's national medalists. Stay tuned for our recap of the event later this week.
The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers
