CQA Scholars Recognized by National Scholastic Art and Writing Awards

With the tireless support and encouragement of their 8th grade writing teacher, Zeinab Imam, six CQA scholars were recognized with a Scholastic Art and Writing Award for their work.

Silver Key Award Recipients: Jhulysa, Mia and Rahul.
Honorable Mentions: Arithra, Christian and Danna.

Being a part of Central Queens Academy and serving a population of scholars from the most diverse borough in New York City is the most rewarding and challenging part of my role here. Ensuring their multicultural identities are honored and reflected in the classroom is the skeleton to my lessons and units in 8th Grade Writing class.  I couldn’t be happier to take on that responsibility surrounded by colleagues that are just as passionate about it as I am. The unwavering support from leadership and my incredible coach, Lisa Levinger, sets the bar for success high and truly makes it attainable for all scholars of diverse backgrounds to reach it. 

Every year, several scholars affirmatively claim that Writing and literature is not their forte. Through projects that ask scholars to share the experiences that shaped them into who they are today, research on social issues that matter to them, and opportunities to exercise their civic duty that claim slowly dissipates. I remember one scholar in particular, on the first day of school, shared, “I can’t write. Reading and Writing are not for me”. With support and tools, this scholar wrote one of the most-heartfelt short memoirs I’ve read. It was rich with imagery and suspense.  I shared his work with my coach and reported back to him with the feedback she had after reading it. I vividly remember the moment I told him that his work is exceptional and the proof is in the reactions everyone has after reading it. That same scholar that claimed “Writing isn’t for him” had tears in his eyes as he shared how proud of himself he is for bringing his story to life using only words.  He ended that conversation with the comment, “I’m going to get a notebook and write more”. This is the main reason that I’m grateful for my coach’s support with submitting our 8th grader’s works to Scholastic’s Writer’s Awards. 

Watching six out of our ten scholars win Scholastic awards is a milestone for our scholars that brings me so much joy. Having a major publishing company, that all our scholars are aware of, acknowledge their work as worthy of an award was the affirmation and a lesson for all our scholars. Many scholars doubted they had a chance. Many didn’t submit because of that reason alone. One scholar shared that she wished to remove her application from the competition because she didn’t think the quality of her work is strong enough for consideration. Another scholar refused to apply in the beginning and on the last day of the competition, We sat down agreed to just take the chance. Both scholars won the Regional Silver Key Award.

The takeaway from this competition for my scholars, even the ones that didn’t submit, is to take a chance on your work, the worst-case scenario is that nothing changes. This award is one of the many highlights that make this year remarkable. The look on our 8th grader’s faces when they found out they won and that moment of disbelief alongside the confidence boost is worth it all. 

Being an educator in these challenging times is testing. However, there is no place I would rather face those challenges head-on other than Central Queens Academy. The support and the trust from leadership are the fuel that makes every goal set for myself and my scholars achievable.  

- Zeinab Imam, 8th Grade Writing Teacher, Central Queens Academy