Middletown Students Win 13 Gold Keys, Sedii Agor Nets Six Awards

Middletown City School District students earned a standout showing at the 2025-26 Regional Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, taking home 13 Gold Keys and multiple other honors that underscore the strength of the district’s arts programs. Sedii Agor led the cohort with six awards, including a Gold Key in Experimental Photography and five Silver Keys, one of the strongest individual performances among regional entrants.

Overall, Middletown submitted 304 works and saw 35 pieces receive Honorable Mention in addition to the Gold and Silver Key wins. Notable Gold Key winners from the district include Alejandro Farias (Graphic Design), Lizet Lopez Hidalgo (Digital Painting, Drawing and Collage), Justin Stewart (Digital Painting, Drawing and Collage), Ellahope Bobea (Photography), Rudy Cherry (Photography), Jeremiah Farmer (Illustration), Evaliz Lopez (Digital Painting, Drawing and Collage), Emory Mays (Drawing), Junghyun Park (Drawing), Ta’Shaun Pelham (Graphic Design), Lya Roldan (Digital Painting, Drawing and Collage) and Paloma Zenteno (Digital Painting, Drawing and Collage).

The awards will be honored at a regional ceremony on Feb. 6 at SUNY New Paltz, where winners will be recognized and selected works exhibited in a campus gallery. That public showcase gives Middletown artists an immediate platform beyond the classroom and presents an opportunity for family, friends and Orange County residents to view student work in a collegiate gallery setting.

For local stakeholders, the results have several practical implications. Gold and Silver Key distinctions enhance students’ college portfolios and scholarship prospects, strengthening Middletown applicants competing for art and design programs. The volume of submissions - 304 works - signals robust participation in school arts programming and can bolster district-level arguments for continued or expanded support for visual arts instruction, materials and extracurricular opportunities.

At a community level, the awards raise Middletown’s cultural profile inside Orange County’s broader arts ecosystem. Exhibitions at SUNY New Paltz may attract visitors to regional events and build connections between Middletown public schools and higher-education arts programs. For parents and taxpayers, the honors provide measurable returns on investments in arts education, reflected in both student achievement and external recognition.

As Middletown celebrates these wins, attention now turns to the Feb. 6 ceremony and the campus exhibition. The district’s showing suggests sustained creative capacity among students and offers momentum for school leaders and community supporters to maintain and expand arts opportunities that prepare young artists for college and careers.