“Ever since I was in elementary school — and even before that — I really enjoyed drawing,” Thomas said in press release from Dayton Public Schools. “My passion for painting started freshman year when a teacher suggested I take a painting class.”
The Dayton native only learned of the honor after receiving an $88,000 scholarship offer from the College for Creative Studies.
>> The story behind how this Stivers grad plans to play the world’s most expensive flute
The Detroit art school sent a copy of the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards calendar with that scholarship offer, a DPS spokeswoman said.
Credit: Submitted
Credit: Submitted
Thomas has received numerous other scholarship offers, including one for $92,000 from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
She has not decided which college to attend, the spokeswoman said.
She told the school district she plans to pursue a master’s degree in arts education, teach high school and work in academia as a professor.
>> This Dayton student just got a college diploma before graduating high school
She painted “Two Cakes,” the piece featured on the calendar, for her AP art portfolio junior year.
It won a 2018 national Gold Medal in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards.
Thomas won a regional Gold Key in the 2019 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards competition.
That piece will be considered for a national Gold Medal award.
> Student graduates college after 49 years
About the Author
