Eleri Young, a recent graduate from Cypress Woods High School, joined nearly 30 creative teen artists and writers from across the greater Houston area in New York City this week, as they were recognized at the 2025 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards National Ceremony.
Young was accompanied by her parents and longtime photography teacher, Teri Farrell. Her photo, titled “Displaced,” won a Gold Medal and an American Visions Medal. She was among only three from greater Houston to earn the latter. She’s also among three Cypress Woods students to earn national recognition.
“I am so proud of her and I think she’s super talented,” said Farrell, who first met Young as a freshman in Photography I and continued to teach her through all four levels in the sequence. “She probably doesn’t give herself enough credit for that so I hope getting this award will confirm in her that she really is creative and spur her to continue with that creativity and share it.”
In total, more than 2,800 works received National Medals this year. At the start of the entry process in December, the prestigious scholarship and recognition program for young artists and writers received more than 310,000 entries from nearly 110,000 teens. National Gold Medalists were invited to Carnegie Hall in New York City and recognized June 11 for their achievements.
Young, who modeled when she was younger, ventured behind the camera and has grown to love capturing candid moments. Her love for photography has only grown with time.
While Young’s passion and talent are apparent in her artwork, her journey to the national ceremony was anything but ordinary. The winning black-and-white photo shows a male model sitting on a chair inside the bed of an old dump truck. The shot is from behind and the symmetry of the truck bed leads a viewer’s eyes to the man sitting with his white long-sleeve shirt and black hat.
The model, Young’s stepfather David Clark, is an accomplished artist himself.
Their connection to art, however, led to a misunderstanding that nearly jeopardized Young’s deserved national accolades.
“I’m sitting at lunch with my friends, opening my emails and see this email saying something about plagiarism,” Young recalled from that April afternoon. “So now I’m freaking out. I thought it was a mistake.
“I immediately got up from my lunch and ran straight to Ms. Farrell.”
Young’s award-winning photo was flagged under Scholastic’s copyright and plagiarism guidelines. As the nation’s longest-running and most prestigious scholarship and recognition program for young artists and writers, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards has an entire page on its website dedicated to reinforcing entered work must be original to the artist. Their policy even includes artificial intelligence and transformative work used as new work.
Any work believed to violate the policies is investigated and could lead to disqualification and refusal or revoking of awards. The policies also help protect the artist and organization from possible financial liability.
So how did Young go from being celebrated at the Wortham Center in March as an American Visions nominee and Gold Key winner to being in jeopardy with the same photograph a few weeks later?
Young and Clark’s last names. Or specifically – their differing surnames.
Farrell, like many sponsors, kept watch on her portal for any news. The official announcement of the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards National Medalists came March 26. But before the news dropped, Farrell saw a notation next to Young’s entry before it went away.
Once official and with no notation, Farrell chalked it up as a simple mistake in the database. After some back and forth for clarification, Farrell indeed discovered the photo was flagged.
Clark is an accomplished sculptor and used Young’s photo in his biography for an exhibit opening he held in March. Now associated with her stepfather – and without Young’s byline attached – the photo was mistakenly flagged.
“So, when I was told it was flagged as plagiarism by someone named David Clark, I quickly said, ‘That’s her stepdad,’” Farrell explained. “And everything came together in my mind. It’s different names. It’s the art opening.
“I can see how they could make that mistake. He’s such a good sport to be the model in all her pictures but yes, that’s her stepdad and she did take all these pictures.”
Young is well versed in the dangers of plagiarism, not only from lessons in Farrell’s classes but from her parents, both visual arts teachers themselves in Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District.
This all unfolded behind the scenes, unbeknownst to Young. The situation was cleared up with all the necessary information in place. While Young is grateful Clark used her photo for his gallery biography, providing her with real-world exposure, she’s also thankful “Displaced” – original work the entire time – was able to earn national accolades.
“Eleri Young is an artist with an eye beyond her years,” said Dr. Chandel Hancock, professional learning and student recognition officer with Harris County Department of Education’s Center for Educator Success, which hosts the program as the second-largest regional affiliate. “Her recognition at the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards is more than a personal achievement; it’s a teachable moment for visual arts educators and students alike.
“Eleri’s journey underscores the importance of understanding copyright, creative integrity, and the value of protecting an artist’s intellectual property from the very beginning.”
Young plans on attending the University of Texas at Dallas and studying finance, keeping photography – for now – as a hobby and passion project.
Young credits Farrell in helping her grow as a person and photographer.
“She’s been really inspirational,” Young said. “The fact that I had her as my teacher for four years, I felt a bond with her.”
For Farrell, the journey was a little up and down, but she’s happy Young was able to recognize her own talent through this process.
“I couldn’t be more proud of her and I really hope she takes to heart the award,” Farrell said. “I truly do think she has this amazing vision and I hope she continues to use it as she goes off to college and pursues other avenues of creativity. I hope she shares it with the world.”