SAA Artist Awarded National Gold Medal

St. Agnes senior Valerie Hernandez has been awarded a National Gold Medal, one of the highest honors presented by the National Scholastic Art competition. Her photograph, entitled Valley of Tears, will travel as part of a national exhibition across the country. This same work was awarded a Mid-South Scholastic Gold Award earlier this year, and was displayed in the Brooks Museum of Art.

More than 80,000 students submitted nearly 230,000 works of art and writing to the 2022 Scholastic Awards. The works were selected by some of the foremost leaders in the visual and literary arts for excellence in originality, technical skills, and emergence of a personal voice or vision. Only 2,000 works received a National Medal, which places these students in the top 1% of all submissions.

 “Valerie is a very intelligent and personable young woman who is a gifted artist. She is humble about her artistic and academic achievements and gives 100% in everything she does,” said Ginny Crittendon, Upper School Art Teacher. “Her ability to learn new skills and her dedication to excellence are outstanding. I am extremely proud and excited that her hard work and talents have been nationally recognized with this Gold Medal Award.”

Though her inclination toward art appeared at an early age, Valerie only discovered her interest in photography earlier this school year through an AP Art Class assignment. Valerie explained, “I always liked taking pictures, but with our assignment I got to spend time working with my mom and dad as subjects. I also realized that I enjoy the editing process.”

In addition to pursuing her individual art, Valerie is also the 2022 Artistic Editor for SAA’s award-winning literary magazine, Calliope. She was a contributor to the 2021 edition of Calliope, which recently received a Silver Crown Award from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association.

Valerie is passionate about art, but she also excels in the classroom. She consistency places Magna or Summa Cum Laude on the Dean’s List and was inducted into the Aquinas Chapter pf the National Honor Society last fall. She has held leadership positions in the French Club, HOSA Club, and Société Honoraire de Français.

Valerie has a flair for World Languages. Fluent in both English and Spanish, she excelled on the National French Exam her sophomore and junior years. She also has a heart for service and shares her gifts in the Language Lab at SAA and as an ESL tutor at a local church.

Director of Counseling Joy Rice shared, “Valerie leads by example. She is optimistic and highly motivated, and yet I most admire her for her integrity. She will not only find personal success in her life, but she will inspire others by her own example.” Valerie plans to study nursing in college and hopes to further her studies with an advanced degree in either medicine into or biomedical engineering.