Waukegan High School students collectively earned more than $1 million in scholarships in recognition of their artwork recently as part of the annual Illinois High School Art Exhibition (IHSAE).

The IHSAE, which selects and features the work of the best student artists from more than 100 Illinois high schools, annually rewards millions in scholarship money to the top artists across the state. This year’s exhibition featured more than 800 works of art in eight distinct categories from public and private high schools in Illinois. WHS students were awarded a total of $1,164,000 in scholarships.

Two WHS students’ artwork received special recognitions during the exhibition. Senior Roger Martinez Fermin won the Visionary Award for his senior portfolio, which recognizes outstanding young artists who have shown the ability to portray the widest vision of artistic awareness. Additionally, junior Michelle Munoz’s work won an honorable mention under the mixed/alternative media category.

Michelle and Roger were joined by Cindy Sanchez, Cameron Schaefer, Alex Guadarrama, Nallely Hernandez, Kim Lagunas, Fatima Rodriguez, Kate Salinas, Gabriela Serna Gutierrez, Logan Platt and Cynthia Vazquez,  as artists who  had work featured in this year’s IHSAE Northern Regional Exhibition: “Best of the Best'' show.