Howard W. Blake High School for the Performing Arts.

That’s the name of our school. Notice how it says performing arts— that has a certain connotation: theater, dance, band, chorus, orchestra, and several more. Yet Blake goes beyond that, into the visual and communicative arts, and some of the smaller programs have had insane amounts of success in their own right. Take creative writing, for example.

Freshman at the time, Noah Trevino, has accomplished more in his freshman year than some have accomplished by graduation. His poetry took him all the way to New York City for an enormous ceremony hosted by Scholastic Arts and Writers as well as national recognition as the “Best in 9th Grade.” 

“I did not expect the poems I submitted to win,” Trevino stated honestly. “I mean, they were good in my eyes, but I never expected they were as good as Scholastic was saying they were.” 

Believe it or not, his journey from a notebook to New York was the result of random and quite frankly, very timely, inspiration. “All three of the winning poems just came to me,” stated Trevino in reference to his source of inspiration. “It was just…I guess I didn’t really have any specific inspiration.”

The three poems that won Trevino the national award were titled: 12 Steps to Bake a Cake, The Lunatic (a Pantoum,) and One Truth Surrounded by Lies. These poems traveled through many hands, first those of the regional judges, then all the way to New York to be judged by accomplished authors and publishers with more accolades than fingers to count them on.

How did he pull off such a big win? Beyond his natural talent and hard work, Trevino’s style is undeniably unique and powerful.

“Noah has a very unique style,” Blake High School creative writing teacher, Mrs. Casey Curry shares. “The cornerstone of his style is honesty. He is fearless— he’s not afraid of his own ideas…he’s not afraid to think beyond the boundaries of what’s accepted.” 

Like any truly successful person, Trevino had put in his share of the hard work. Since arriving at Blake High School, he’s experienced exponential growth as a writer. He’s also learned to explore his own thoughts and the extent of his creativity. In referencing what Mrs. Curry has taught him, he says, “She’s taught me that there’s entire worlds that I’m completely oblivious to.”

Not only has Mrs. Curry’s teaching prowess helped Noah tap into his crazy amounts of literature potential, but he’s not only grown as a writer. He’s grown as a person too.

“Blake has helped me open up more,” he shared. “(In the creative writing program) we don’t just have one perspective, there’s just so many different ideas and opinions.”

Noah Trevino’s writing (winning example attached below) will only continue to get better as the years go by, and soon we’ll be able to say we knew him when.