This year, SCC will hold the Vortex Awards 2015 on May 7 at Chapparral Suites Resort.

The 2015 Vortex Awards is an event to celebrate the SCC students who have won art and writing contests, and it is sponsored by Vortex, the school’s literary magazine.

“This is our 16th year we’ve held this event,” Creative Writing Program director Sandra Desjardins said. “Every spring, we run a writing and art competition and we judge that contest.”

The winners come from many ages – as young eighteen to as old as eighty-five.

“Sometimes, the winners are seventy, eighty years old and they have children and grandchildren who come,” Desjardins said. “It’s really heartwarming and exciting to see the family of the winner who comes, very excited and very supportive.”

Fifteen winners in writing and 17 winners for arts will be honored at the Vortex Awards ceremony. One first prize winner will receive $100, second prize will receive $75, and third prize will get $50. Three honorable mentions will receive $35 for each person and the winner for the cover art will receive $100.

The art and writing from the winners will be publishing in the Vortex magazine, which is recognized nationally.

“We print the magazine and won a national award. We got second place for that,” Desjardins said.

Students who participate at Retro Muse Coffee House will entertain this ceremony award. Retro Muse Coffee House is a weekly event that runs the open mic format that all students can perform their singing, dancing, writing, art, and acting skits.

“Six students will play together separately to welcome the guests,” Desjardins explained.

Many people hailed this event, including SCC students, like SCC TV Production student, Thulisa Sigwabe.

“I think the event is good for students because it allows students to be more creative in terms of writing, drawing, and painting,” Sigwabe said. “It gives them opportunity to just express themselves in a very different way.”

Another student, Rohina Bano, who has sent some of her writing to this contest, admitted that she has received a lot of benefits through this event.

“It was a good chance to write about something that I was thinking in my mind and I, for the first time, put the word that was in my mind into a page,” Bano said. “So it’s good opportunity. Most of the time, when we’re thinking that we cannot write or be creative and why we sit for writing. But this contest makes us that we can think more about how much better we can be creatively.”

Students and members of the general public are encouraged to attend this event, but according to Bano and Sigwabe, the $25 ticket price is too expensive for them.

“In terms of the price, it is costly,” Sigwabe said. “I understand this price is a good cost for this event but it’s still expensive,” Sigwabe said.

“I didn’t like that, it shouldn’t cost that much for the students,” Bano added.

To learn more about Vortex, go to faculty.scottsdalecc.edu/desjardins/creative-writing. In addition, the public can support Vortex through tax-deductible donations. Donate online through the Maricopa Community Colleges Foundation with the website https://foundation.maricopa.edu/. Select Scottsdale CC and “Vortex Student publication” when making the donation.