Young Monroe artists take home Gold Key awards

Four Monroe students were awarded the Gold Key during this year's Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, a prestigious recognition program for teens in grades 7-12.

Megan Boyle, a junior at Monroe High School, won a Gold Key for her drawing of an owl using sketch and wash pencils. The daughter of Tonia and Jeff Boyle had never taken art before this year. She is considering a career in game design.

Eighth-grader David Burrell's "Steampunk Mechanical BoxGÇ¥ is a blue-glazed clay sculpture with gears, switches and pulleys. The Park Place Middle School student is the son of Ryan and Jenny Burrell.

Sky Valley Education Center 10th-grader Emma Picard's piece "Over the UndergrowthGÇ¥ used a rope to resemble tree roots forming a bridge.

"In the center there's a very small figure surrounded by light from above,GÇ¥ Picard said in a news release. She is the daughter of Eric Picard and Melissa Joly.

Sky Valley senior Bronwen LaPorte took a Gold Key with her "The Raw Reality: A Self Portrait.GÇ¥ The daughter of Brian LaPorte and Kathleen Schroeder, she has attended the Northwest Art Center since was seven.