Five Prestonwood Christian Academy (PCA) Upper and Middle School students were selected to attend The National K-12 Ceramic Exhibition which took place on March 22 through 24 in Portland, Ore. Only 150 ceramic pieces were selected from national entries for this exhibition.

PCA sent five students to the exhibition this year due to excellent faculty direction and the level of skill students demonstrated in ceramics. Four PCA students received recognition while attending:

• Junior Grace McCraw received an $88,000 scholarship offer to Kansas City Art Institute for her piece, Floral Teapot. Juniors and Seniors apply for this scholarship, and Grace was selected as one of four recipients because of her outstanding work in ceramics at the K-12 Exhibition.
• Senior Teresa Backiel received a Bailey Pottery Equipment Award and Orton Foundation Cash Award for her piece, Stacked Hexagons.
• Freshman Heather Gray received an Artistic Merit Award and Bailey Pottery Equipment Award for her piece, Steampunk Octopus.
• Eighth Grader Davis Works received the Curator Book Award, which is a hand-selected award by the curator of the show, for his piece, Hexagon Vase. 

The National K-12 Ceramic Exhibition is an annual juried ceramic competition for Kindergarten through Grade 12 (K-12) students in the United States. Designed to showcase the best K-12 ceramic work made in the country, the exhibition takes place in a different city each year in conjunction with the annual conference of The National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA). The NCECA conference is the preeminent ceramic event in the US annually, gathering professionals from universities, colleges, museums, art galleries and the ceramic arts world to a host city to view exhibitions, demonstrations, talks and other ceramic events. Scholarships and awards are also presented to many of the winners.

“I am so excited for these students and the opportunities that these awards will bring,” said PCA Upper School Art Teacher Martha Underriner. “Many of these awards can open the door to scholarships and recognition in the arts. Congratulations to these students for their immense accomplishment!”

Prestonwood Christian Academy is celebrating its 20^th school year serving more than 1,600 students enrolled at three campuses: Plano (Pre-Kindergarten 3 through 12^th grade), PCA North in Prosper (Pre-Kindergarten 3 through 7^th grade) and PCAplus Virtual Academy.  The school has been recognized as having one of the strongest Christian education programs in the country providing intentional biblical worldview training and integration. PCA places great value on the growth of students’ spiritual health in addition to their scholastic endeavors and co-curricular activities. In addition to PCA’s spiritual development plan, the school promotes a rigorous Liberal Arts academic program. The graduating class of 2016 was offered more than $15 million in scholarship for academics, arts and athletics from universities and other institutions of higher learning. PCA is currently accepting applications for the 2017-18 school year. Interested families are encouraged to schedule a Thursday tour at PCA Plano or PCA North by visiting www.prestonwoodchristian.org/admissions.