Two Upper Peninsula students were national award winners in the 2025 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, the nation's longest-running and most prestigious recognition program for creative teens in grades 7-12. Berkeley Thompson of Marquette Senior High School won a Gold Medal and American Voices Award for her poem “On Buying Pre-Stirred Almond Butter," and Hannah Josefsen of Negaunee High School won a Gold Medal and American Visions Award in art for her painting, “Fragments of Identity."
Thompson, a 15-year-old, is studying abroad this year in Hemei, Taiwan as part of the Rotary Youth Exchange program. She has been an avid reader and writer since she was in preschool, and her passion for books goes beyond borders. In 2023, as an 8th grade student at Bothwell Middle School, Berkeley organized a book drive. She collected more than 1,000 books and, with help from Snowbound Books, sent them to Africa for the Books for Africa program. In 2024, her poem, "Bubbles for Pop" won first place in the Great Lakes Poetry Festival's Teen Poetry Contest. Also, in 2024 her tiny love story, "The Whole Egg" was published in the Modern Love column of The New York Times. Aside from reading and writing, she's an aspiring policymaker who is passionate about social and environmental justice. She spends her free time traveling, running in the sunshine, and initiating deep conversations about current events, art and literature.
Josefsen is a 17-year-old art student. She is currently enrolled in both high school and college through the Middle College program. From a young age, she has had a passion for art, constantly drawing and even experimenting with animation. Though she faced challenges in 8th and 9th grade, Hannah's academic and artistic journey took a positive turn in 10th grade. She made the honor roll and went on to earn awards for both her art and her academics. Notably, she won first place for her art in NMU's High School Art Show, and received a certificate of recognition from the Artists in Excellence 2024 for Best in Show. In addition to her art, Hannah enjoys spending her free time with her two pet birds. She aspires to become an avian veterinarian, blending her love for animals with her passion for helping others.
More than 300,000 works of art and writing were submitted for adjudication at the regional level in 28 categories, which include poetry, painting, architecture, short story, fashion design and more. All were judged based on the program's three criteria: originality, technical skill and emergence of personal vision or voice. Regional judging was performed by more than 100 local affiliates of the nonprofit Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, including the new Upper Peninsula affiliate, a partnership between the Northern Shores Storywork Writing Project at Northern Michigan University and DeVos Art Museum.
“The Upper Peninsula is an inspiring place for creative teens, and I am passionate about providing access to regional and national awards for them,” said Kel Sassi, NMU English professor and director of the Northern Shores Writing Project Site. “In our first year serving as an affiliate, we increased the number of U.P. submissions from 8 to over 100, and I hope for even greater participation when submissions open in September for the next awards year.”
In June, National Award-winning teens from across the country will gather in New York City to attend the National Celebration series of events in their honor, hosted by the Alliance.
For more information about the Alliance, visit www.artandwriting.org.
