Thank you for Making Noise with us!
We are incredibly grateful to every student who participated in this year’s Make Noise Today Student Scholarship Contest & Exhibition. Your voices have created waves of inspiration, resilience, and hope.
Thanks to your incredible talent and passion, we received a record-breaking 600+ submissions, each story uniquely powerful and impactful. We celebrate each of you for courageously sharing your narrative.
Next Steps:
We will reach out to the top three winners in each category during the week of April 28th. Stay tuned and keep an eye on your inboxes!
Meet Our Judges
CB Lee
Literary Arts
C.B. Lee is an author of young adult and middle grade fiction including the NYT Bestseller Minecraft: The Shipwreck. Their works also include the Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selected A Clash of Steel: A Treasure Island Remix, the Lambda Literary Award nominated Sidekick Squad series, Ben 10 graphic novels, Out Now: Queer We Go Again, and From A Certain Point Of View: The Empire Strikes Back. Lee’s work has been featured in NPR, Teen Vogue, Wired Magazine, Hypable, Tor’s Best of Fantasy and Sci Fi and the American Library Association’s Rainbow List.
Jennifer Tran
Visual Arts
Jennifer Tran’s art practice considers language, translations and intergenerational narratives. It is inherently collaborative, drawing on the various skills and interests of her family. With a background in architecture, Jennifer focuses on understanding the domestic space and finding meaning in the organization of personal objects. However, her broader interests center around themes of migration, labor and aspiration.
Born in 1981 in Toronto, Canada, Jennifer is currently based in Long Beach, California.
Michael Navia
Performing Arts
Michael Navia, Ed.D. is a credentialed in English and started career as an English teacher.
Michael has been principal for 24 years at four different schools in the Long Beach Unified School District; Cubberley School, Marshall Academy of the Arts, Millikan High School and Renaissance High School for the Arts.
Big thanks for bringing your passion, creativity, and valuable insights to the table—you've truly made this year’s contest special and inspiring for everyone involved.
Congratulations to all participants! Keep telling your stories—they truly matter. Together, let's continue to amplify and empower the voices of our vibrant AAPI youth community.