Two Methow Valley freshmen from Liberty Bell High School were awarded Scholastic Art and Writing Awards from the Alliance for Young Writers and Artists. Ayla Belsby’s poem, “Coming out of the Closet” won an Honorable Mention Award and Gabby Studen’s poem, “Let America be What it has Never Been: A Sanctuary” won the Silver Key Award. (Gabby Studen, top left and Ayla Belsby, bottom right, showcase their award certificates.)

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The poems were written in teacher Dani Golden’s freshmen English class during a Methow Arts Education Residency titled “Justice & the American Dream.”

Students studied the history of the American Dream through the perspective of various leaders and poets and then gave voice to their own poems about a just American Dream working with Methow Arts teaching artist, Cindy Williams Gutiérrez and activist Darcy Ottey. 

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The residency was a project of Methow Arts Alliance supported by funding from PSFA and local donors.

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For more information contact us at Methow Arts Alliance, info@methowartsalliance.org, 509-997-4004.