Indian Springs students receive honors

Three seniors at Indian Springs School have recently been honored with awards. 

Catherine Kung received multiple awards for her ongoing research on the development of artificial skin and rose among a pool of university students to claim first place for the 2022 SPIE Best Student Paper Award. SPIE is the international society for optics and photonics. She also won first place in the 2022 Alabama Science Scholar Search. She is one of two Indian Springs students advancing to the 2022 Regeneron International Science & Engineering Fair for the second year in a row.

Lucy Gardner won a gold medal in the 2022 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards for her flash fiction story, "Moody Orange." Gold medals are awarded for "the most outstanding works in the nation," and winners are recognized at a national ceremony. Lucy also received the American Voices Medal, a “Best in Show'' award that recognizes originality, technical skill, and the emergence of a personal voice or vision. A panel of judges select only one writer from each region for this award. In addition to the Scholastic Awards, Lucy was recognized in the Alabama Writers Forum High School Literary Art Awards for the second year in a row. She received a Poetry Certificate of Merit and the Judge’s Special Recognition in the categories of fiction and creative nonfiction. She also received the Marvin Lee Paul and Helen Scott Paul Senior Portfolio Scholarship.

Sofia Monteleone won gold and silver medals in the 2022 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards for her poems entitled "Despair in the Quiet" and "Wasted Time." Gold medals are awarded for “the most outstanding works in the nation,” and the winners are recognized at a national ceremony. Sofia also received the New York Life Award, which provides six scholarships of $1,000 to students whose work explores personal grief, loss, and bereavement, and exemplifies how the arts can act as a positive outlet to cope with these issues.

Indian Springs School has eight National Merit Finalists and eight Presidential Scholar Candidates, more than any other school in the state.