Niskayuna High School junior Madeline “Maddy” Ehrlich was recently named Scholastic Art and Writing Competition award winner for her novel.
Ehrlich said she decided to take part in the competition after hearing about it in art class.
“It really appealed to me because the contest is one of the longest running, and most prestigious awards in the country, so I knew that it would be very hard to win anything, but that if I did, it would be a huge accomplishment,” Ehrlich said. “I was simply excited to have the opportunity to try and get recognition for my work, and being able to share it with others to hear what they say.”
Ehrlich’s novel tells a story about 15-year-olds, having lost all of their memories, being forced to choose from fantasy, science fiction or poetry books to live in. Protagonist Seraphine can sense that something is off and begins to discover forbidden history books. She later faces a tough decision: should live within a world of books, or set out to find the truth about history and the past.
“For a couple years I have been working on this novel, and it has challenged me because I had to come up with a plot, effectively communicate my ideas on paper, and go through multiple revisions and editing,” Ehrlich said. “It took a lot of perseverance and dedication in order to do the whole process and continue even when it seemed like there was so much more I had to do.”
That hard work paid off, with Ehrlich taking home the Silver Key Award for her novel.
“I was very excited and honored,” she said. “It felt very good to see that hard work can pay off, and that I could be recognized as a great writer.”
But, the recognition doesn’t end there for Ehrlich. She and two classmates,
Tanisha Muralimanohar and Maria Samuel also placed second at the National History Day Regional Competition.
“We all love history, are great friends and have done projects together in the past, so the contest seemed like a great opportunity for me to learn more, enhance my research skills, and collaborate with my friends,” Ehrlich said.
Ehrlich, Muralimanohar and Samuel plan to start a National History Day club at Niskayuna High School beginning next year.
“The club will bring high school students together in order to give them the opportunity to create projects, learn about the project themes and rules, and bring students who love history together so we can all develop a greater understanding of the past and collaborate to celebrate the National History Day event,” Ehrlich said.
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