Starkville High School seniors, Sachiko Clay and Willie McGee have earned national honors in the visual arts for their photography work. Sachiko Clay has been recognized as a 2026 Young Art Award Winner with Distinction in Visual Arts through the YoungArts program for 15- to 18-year-olds. In addition, Willie McGee has been named a 2025 National Scholastic Gold Medalist through the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards program.
Both seniors have earned multiple regional, national and international awards during their high school career and are active participants in the SHS Visual Arts program under the instruction of award-winning teacher, Andrew Lark.
Willie McGee is a national Gold Medalist in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, a national competition in the creative arts hosted annually since 1923 by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers. Nearly 110,000 students across the United States and Canada entered this year's competition, and only 2.5% of students entering work were awarded gold medals, making Willie one of only 2800 students across the continent to receive this honor. The Scholastic Art program aims to create student opportunities for recognition, exhibition, publication and scholarships in creative expression.
During his high school career, Willie has earned multiple gold and silver awards in the state Scholastic Art program and Mississippi Beta art competition. He earned a 2nd place National Beta Award in Photography in 2024.
Sachiko Clay has been named a 2026 Young Art Award Winner with Distinction in Visual Arts through the YoungArts national competition. More than 12,700 students applied for awards through the program in 2026 and only 171 were awarded the Winner with Distinction honor. Among those, only 20 were awarded the Visual Arts Distinction. Sachiko is the only student from Mississippi to earn this award. Young Arts is a national foundation for the advancement of artists established in 1981 to identify and honor exceptional young artists. The highly competitive application for 10th-12th graders in the United States is adjudicated by a professional team of discipline-specific artists. As an Award Winner with Distintion, Sachiko is eligible to be nominated as a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts.
During her high school career, Sachiko has earned multiple statewide Scholastic gold and silver awards and Beta competition awards. She has received 1st place in the 3rd District Mississippi Congressional Art Competition and Best of Show in the Mississippi Beta competition. In addition, she has been honored internationally through acceptance into the 2023 International Travelers Photography competition and her work was named Best of Show at the National Beta Competition in 2024.
Arts education in the Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District is available to students beginning in PreK, and students may enroll in arts electives beginning in 6th grade. Advanced instruction in visual arts, drawing, photography and ceramics is available to students beginning in 9th grade, and the Starkville High School visual arts program yearly produces statewide, national and international award-winners. Through award-winning and comprehensive instruction, students participating in the SHS visual arts program have earned scholarships to continue their studies in esteemed colleges across the country, including the Rhode Island School of Design and Savannah College of Art and Design and University of Virginia.