Avon Schools Happenings

The Garden at Avon East is Amazing!

Thank you to ALL the volunteers and businesses. We can’t wait to see the bounty!

“All plants grown and seeds donated by Karen Conant, Ridge Bridge Farms. Karen also donated the basil seeds and 150 pots that our kids planted today for our first future plant sale. Karen, we truly can’t thank you enough for your generous donations and time in the garden. You are absolutely amazing! Thank you to the amazing parent volunteers and especially Lauren Petz for your amazing organization of this event and Mariaka De Vonk for working side by side with Karen and planting with the kids,” says Neely Powell.

“I would like to personally thank Erin, the teachers/staff at East, the PTA and Avon administration for always saying “yes” and offering support to make this project possible.”

List of plants: Freckles Lettuce • Bronze Arrowhead Lettuce • Heirloom Cutting Lettuce • Red Velvet Lettuce • Swiss Chard • Red Kale • Spinach • Arugula • Red Cabbage • Green Cabbage • Broccoli • Kohlrabi • Cauliflower • Purple Peas (climbing) • Green Sugar Peas • Purple Onions • Yellow Onions • Potatoes – 5 varieties • Radishes – 5 varieties • Chives • Mint • Lavender • Violas

Avon High Sophomore Receives National Recognition

Avon High School is pleased to announce Justin Schwab, 16, a sophomore at Avon High School, received national recognition for a story he entered into the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards competition. His Silver Medal, won for his original short story “The Attic,” was one of just 2,000 stories recognized in the competition, putting him in the top 0.8% of the more than 260,000 entries from students across the United States and Canada.

In addition to his national award, Justin received numerous regional awards for three of his short stories, including “The Attic.” His body of work – first entered this year regionally – won a Gold Key, a Silver Key and an Honorable Mention.

The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards is a prestigious program run by Scholastic, in which students compete to earn recognition from industry-trained professionals. Entries are judged first on the regional level, where they can earn Gold Key, Silver Key or Honorable Mention. https://www.artandwriting.org/awards/

Gold Key winners at the regional level automatically advance to the national level, where they are judged, based on originality, technical skill, and emergence of a personal voice or vision. National awards include Gold and Silver medals, as well as portfolio distinctions.

We asked Justin what the inspiration was behind writing his short story, here is his reply:

“The idea for The Attic came from a temporary exhibit in the Cleveland Museum of Art called “A New York Minute: Street Photography, 1920-1950.” The description of the exhibit defines street photography, which flourished in the early twentieth century, as “spontaneous images of everyday life captured in public places.” It really got me thinking about how much we can learn from the world through photographs of unguarded moments, public or private, especially by examining how they’re presented or why they were taken in the first place. I wanted to create a story that appreciated the history of each person’s untold life and show that there is no such thing as a bad picture.” – Justin Schwab