Recent Libby graduate reflects on time in Carnegie Hall limelight
<p>Makayla Cichosz-King may have missed her high school graduation, but she has great memories of her time on the Carnegie Hall stage.</p>
Beneath the bright lights of Times Square, Makayla Cichosz-King must have felt like a small fish in a big pond. But on the stage of the world-famous Carnegie Hall, that feeling must have quickly washed into an afterthought.
Named as one of the 2013 Merit winners of the Scholastic Arts & Writing awards, Cichosz-King won a silver-medal for a short story entry titled “Winter-Sealed” about a young man who takes his own life on a cold winter day. Submission categories underlined the creative values of what Scholastic wants to promote in students, including poetry, flash fiction, photography and more.
“Very creative, very career oriented,” high school art teacher Patty Rambo said of Cichosz-King. “She’s very dedicated to the career path she’s established.”
Upon being announced as a winning contestant, Cichosz-King was not sure she would be able to attend the ceremony in New York, as travel expenses were not paid for by the Scholastic Arts & Writing program.
“Later, I heard a fundraiser had begun,” Cichosz-King said, “that kind of shocked me. Next thing I knew we had tickets for Carnegie, and we were making plans.”
Cichosz-King recalled spending her first night of the trip wandering Times Square beneath all of the lights, a major scene change for a graduating Libby senior. She spent the next day receiving her award from the Parsons School of Design, then to Carnegie Hall to rehearse the ceremony that would take place that night.
Teachers, parents and guests of the winners were among those in attendance at the ceremony, where Scholastic President and CEO Dick Robinson spoke to contest winners about the importance of creativity in today’s society.
The biggest surprise of all came from guest appearances by actress Sarah Jessica Parker and singer/songwriter Usher. The pair shocked the winners and crowd, and gave speeches reassuring winners they are the promising forefront of today’s progressing world.
“I think we were still kind of in a haze,” Cichosz-King said of the guests’ speech. “We were still absorbing it all going on.”
Cichosz-King recalls her fondest memory of the trip as taking a bow on the famous Carnegie Hall stage.
“It was an amazing experience,” she said. “I can’t thank everyone enough who supported me.”
Cichosz-King said her creativity in writing could tie back to her love for the Harry Potter series she enjoyed in younger days. This fall she plans to attend the University of Montana as well as the Davidson Honors College on campus, majoring in English with a minor focus on creative writing.
“She has a bright future ahead of her,” said Assistant High School Principal Jim Germany. “I like that she’s such a risk-taker and does whatever she wants. It bodes well for a successful future.”
The Scholastic Arts & Writing program has been in action for 90 years, giving millions in scholarships back to students around the country. Writing & Arts are only one faction of the organization that is involved with schools in the U.S. and around the world.