De'Vanese John-Baptiste Receives Recognition for Short Story

De'Vanese John-Baptiste (Grade 11) was recognized by the Region-at-Large program of the 2021 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, presented by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. Her short story, The Magical Vehicle, received a Silver Key Short Story Award.

De’Vanese says she was inspired when a close friend was diagnosed with schizophrenia in the 8th grade, “I was challenging myself to write something outside of my own experience, and this was a topic that I still had a lot to learn about. As a result, a lot more research went into this story than anything I had written previously. I would say my process really got started when I sat down and had a conversation with this friend about the diagnosis and how the disorder affected their lives, generally. Speaking to someone about their own firsthand experience was what I needed to move the story forward. Research told me everything I needed to know about the disorder but it took a first-hand account to figure out what that meant for a human being. Writing about the people and things I’m passionate about made the process much easier.”

Since 1923 these Scholastic Awards had recognized some of America’s most celebrated artists when they were teenagers. De'Vanese joins an esteemed group of Alumni, including Andy Warhol, Tschabalala Self, Stephen King, and more.
Congratulations De'Vanese!