Olivia Celano, ’25 who loves writing, won a 2025 Scholastic Art & Writing Award two days ago. She received this prestigious award for her short story named, “Birds, Solar Systems, and Twin Gods.”

Celano started as a contributor for the The Mountaineer’s new section, the Freshman Corner, as part of Mr. Wood’s journalism class at SJHS.  Last year, she became a regular feature writer for the Mountaineer Newspaper.  This year, she is one of two editors-in-chief for the school newspaper. She brings creativity to The Mountaineer with her promo ideas, Script to Screen podcasts, and unique writing perspectives on art, culture, and life.

Celano has a passion for reading and writing about Greek mythology. She often writes reviews for The Mountaineer on modern Greek-inspired novels or movies and how Greek mythology has influenced the world we live in today. Currently, she is writing a four-part series on the influence of classic mythology on modern art and expression.

Olivia won this award because her story demonstrated originality, skill, and personal vision. According to the letter she received upon winning the award, past winners of the Scholastic Awards include Stephen King, Andy Warhol, and Amanda Gorman.

This year, she is taking AP Literature and Advanced Journalism (the newspaper class) for the second time.

Although she is not a member of the Parallels Writing Club, she often submits short stories for the Parallels student publication.

During freshman year, she took Introduction to Journalism, and during sophomore year, she took Creative Writing.

Celano plans to keep writing and wants to study English and Literature in college. The Mountaineer staff wishes her luck with all of her future writing endeavors!