Raval Earns National Writing Award

Altamont School student Aaditya “Aadi” Raval has earned a Scholastic Awards National Medal. In April, the rising ninth-grade student was one of three Gold Key winners among the school’s 18 award-winning entries and 15 honorable mentions at the regional level of the prestigious Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. Those top three winners advanced to the national competition, in which Raval’s entry—"Don't use Public Lands for Private Harm”—was awarded the Silver Medal in the Critical Essay category.

Since 1923, The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers has presented the Scholastic Awards in recognition of some of America’s most celebrated artists and writers while they were teenagers. More than 100,000 students entered nearly 340,000 original works of art and writing to the 2024 competition. Raval’s essay was among fewer than 2,500 works to earn a National Medal. “I’m super happy to have won this award and look forward to continuing creative writing in high school,” he said.

“Whether on the debate stage or at his keyboard, Aadi is exceedingly bright, verbal and hardworking,” said Altamont English teacher Dan Carsen. “He’s a quick-minded craftsman, and he even cares about the world, as you can see in his award-winning essay. I’m very proud of Aadi and all my writing students.”