Katy Ta, (back) Anatoli Hnatov, (front) Alex Everson, (back) Celia Casciello, Gigi Johnson, Kenley Mooring, Julia Begelman, Parker Rose Overton, Teacher Samantha Rouse

When you think of Art, competitiveness doesn’t come to mind, but the Art Showcase of the North Carolina Association for Scholastic Activities sets fire to these students in a tough competition of artistic ability against schools all over North Carolina.

Arendell Parrott Academy’s Middle School Art Team is comprised of eight middle school students. Each of the eight students could only create one piece of art only using certain art supplies outlined in the competition rules.

The competition supplies teams with a prompt, this year’s being “What’s so funny”.

Mrs. Samantha Rouse, the elementary and middle school art teacher, explained “As soon as the prompt was released to the schools, our kids spent time really thinking about what was funny to them and how they could successfully represent that idea in their art within the competition parameters. It makes it difficult for students to filter through all their ideas; do they take the prompt literally or figuratively? Is it a statement or a question?”.  

APA’s Middle School Art Team beat out ten other schools in the eastern regional division, and held the top regional score in the state, beating nineteen middle school scores statewide, and tied for first place with Uwharrie Charter School.

APA’s middle school artists achieved high scores for the eastern region in their own divisions as well. Anatoli Hnatov’s sculpture, Parker Rose Overton’s photograph, Katy Ta’s collage, Julia Begelman’s drawing, and Kenley Mooring’s printmaking print all individually earned first place with the highest scores in the eastern region against ten schools. Celia Casciello’s mixed media piece scoring second, and Gigi Johnson’s digital media piece, and Alex Everson’s painting secured third.  

When I compared each individual score to the other middle schools for both eastern and western North Carolina in preparation for the statewide competition, I found that our individual scores continued to hold first place throughout the state within sculpture, photography, collage, and drawing categories. Printmaking held second place and painting, digital media, and mixed media held third place. I could not be prouder of my students and their hard work this season. We are all grateful for the win and the opportunity to advance to the state competition. We are looking forward to seeing all the artwork in person in Greensboro on December 10th. 

The top four high schools in West and Central, two high schools in the East (W=West, C=Central, E=East) along with the top five middle schools in Regions East & West will advance to the State Finals.

HIGH SCHOOLS:

Eastern Division

Seaforth

Arendell Parrott

Voyager

Lenoir County Learning Academy

South Lenoir

Smithfield-Selma

Falls Lake

Kinston

Lumberton

North Lenoir

Purnell Swett

Central Division

Atkins

Northwest Guilford

North Surry

Northern Guilford

East Surry

Chatham Central

Northwood

Mount Airy

Gray Stone Day

High Point Central

Early College at Guilford

Western Division

Surry Early College

Surry Central

Discovery

Myers Park

North Lincoln

South Iredell

Gaston Christian

Thomas Jefferson

Lake Norman

West Iredell

Ardrey Kell

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MIDDLE SCHOOLS

Eastern Division

Arendell Parrott

Brown Summit

Uwharrie Charter

Chatham MS

71st Classical

Allen

Gray Stone Day

Horton

Orrum

Wayne School of Engineering

EB Frink

Southern Nash

Western Division

Jay M Robinson

Brawley

Mount Airy

Hanes Magnet

Pilot Mountain

Gentry

Central (Surry)

Meadowview Magnet

Western Guilford

Woodland Heights

East Iredell

Asheville

A summary is shown below. All schools ranked below and individuals listed below advanced to the State Finals. Schools not listed below did not advance. The State Finals will be December 10 hosted by Atkins High School.

Please make sure students understand that works that received a low score were not poor in quality. They were simply viewed by the judges to be inferior to works who earned higher scores. Submissions were scored in comparison to other works in their media type and Regional. We commend all students and schools who submitted works to the competition. All students who participated should take pride in representing their school in interscholastic competition.

Team results are determined by calculating the top five scores from each school.

High Schools

East Regional

1 - Arendell Parrott

2 - Smithfield-Selma

Also advancing:

- Olivia Merrell in Sculpture from Voyager Academy

- Lisbeth Santos in Sculpture from Purnell Swett

- Andres Estevez in Mixed Media from Seaforth

- Nina Gibson in Digital Media from Kinston

Central Regional Highschools

1 - Northwest Guilford

2 - North Surry

3 - Northern Guilford

4 - Atkins

5 - Northwood (advanced as top wildcard)

West Regional Highschools

1 - Gaston Christian

2 - Myers Park

3 - Surry Central

4 - North Lincoln

5 - Lake Norman

Also advancing: Averi Parrish in Photography from Ardrey Kell HS

Middle Schools

East Regional

1 tie - Arendell Parrott Academy, Uwharrie Charter (tiebreaker could not break tie)

3 - Brown Summit

4 - Chatham 

5 - Orrum

Also advancing: Cailia Edwards from EB Frink MS in Digital Media

West Regional

1 - Jay M Robinson 

2 - Central (Surry)

3 - J Sam Gentry

4 tie - Meadowview Magnet, Pilot Mountain

Also advancing: 

- Mackenzie Vanderham from Woodland Heights MS in Painting

- Logan Brantley from Hanes Magnet MS in Photography

NCASA is home of the 

• Joe Childers Scholastic Cup

• NCASA Challenge Cup

• North Carolina Showcase