
Drawing by Pa Yang
With so many talented artists under the direction of Upper School art teacher Kelly Lee, it was no wonder that Paul Cuffee artists took home a gold and two silver keys from the state Scholastic Art Competition in January. But it was a first for a Paul Cuffee student to win gold at the national level of the competition.
Of 320,000 pieces of art accepted from students across the country, 11th grader Pa Houa Yang’s work is one of about 100 gold key winners in the Drawing and Illustration Category.
Ms. Lee commented, “[Pa] is seriously gifted. She blows me away not only with her rendering skills but also with her creativity, conceptual thinking, and design sense. She is so quick to pick up new ideas and bring to them her own brilliance. To see her ability at such a young age and with so little training is pretty amazing.”
The winners will be honored in a ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Pa’s work will also be part of a traveling show of art that earned national honors from Scholastic.

Upper School art teacher Kelly Lee congratulates Pa Yang on her achievement.