News release
Santa Clarita Sister Cities, in partnership with the city of Santa Clarita, has announced the winners of the 2025 Young Artists and Authors Showcase.
The local winners include:
Art (Classic Medium)
• Claire Holt (SCVi) – “The Global Heartbeat.”
• Brenda Lee (Valencia High School) – “Piece by Peace.”
Art (Digital Medium)
• Rinoa Toledo (Rio Norte Junior High School) – “Friendship: The Heartbeat of Global Peace.”
• Shriya Srinivasasubbu (Academy of the Canyons) – “The World in our Hands.”
Essay/Creative Writing
• Kayton Wickremasuriya (Saugus High School) – “Fostering Unity and Peace Across All Nations.”
• Sydney Kasahara (Saugus High School) – “The Language of Friendship Poetry.”
• Jessica Jin (West Ranch High School) – “The Power of Shared Memories.”
• Susmit Das (Academy of the Canyons) – “Friendship: The Heartbeat of Global Peace.” Music (Original)
• Chloe Pichereau (Academy of the Canyons) – “Summerdays.”
• Gina Intravartolo (West Ranch High School) – “Together.”
Photography
• Savannah Gomez (Hart High School) – “Sunset Harmony.”
These student submissions, along with those of other Santa Clarita finalists, were submitted to Sister Cities International in Washington, D.C., where they competed against more than 340 entries from 10 countries around the globe, according to a news release from the city of Santa Clarita.
Two students representing Santa Clarita Sister Cities won at the international level:
• Sydney Kasahara (Saugus High School) – “The Language of Friendship.”
• Chloe Pichereau (Academy of the Canyons) –– “Summerdays.”
The annual YAAS gives youth the opportunity to express their vision for a more unified, peaceful world through original artwork, music and literature, the release said. The 2025 Showcase encouraged youth to submit entries inspired by the theme, “Friendship: The Heartbeat of Global Peace,” highlighting the power of friendship to foster understanding, collaboration and peace among nations.
Community members can view these students’ winning entries on SantaClaritaSisterCities.org. The international winners are featured on Sister Cities International’s website, SisterCities.org.
The Santa Clarita Sister Cities program is a local organization with a mission to foster international partnerships between the city of Santa Clarita and cities abroad, as well as promote mutual understanding, friendship and cooperation through reciprocal youth, cultural, educational, professional, humanitarian and economic programs and exchanges.
Sister Cities International is a nonprofit organization created by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956 to foster partnerships among communities around the globe and encourage peace through mutual respect, understanding and cooperation – one individual, one community at a time.
The city of Santa Clarita has international Sister Cities in Tena, Ecuador, and Sariaya, Philippines.
For more information, visit SantaClaritaSisterCities.org, contact Tyler Pledger at 661-286-4176 or email [email protected].
