Way to go! Jericho sophomore Melanie Waller

Melanie Waller never expected her photo of a shirt would find this level of success.

Waller, a sophomore at Jericho High School, was one of 44 high-schoolers nationwide selected to have their artwork appear in a special exhibit of the 2010 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards at the Old Post Office Pavilion in Washington, D.C.

Waller's artwork - a photo of a transparency of a sunflower projected using light onto a white button-down dress shirt - will be on display for one year. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Oct. 8.

"At first, I didn't see what was so special about it," said Waller, 15, of her photo. "But listening to the reactions of other people, I started to understand and look at it differently."

Waller first earned a gold key and gold medal in the Scholastic Awards earlier this year after her media teacher, Louise Millman, suggested they enter the "Shirt" photo in the contest. From there, only 44 of more than 1,000 award winners were selected for the exhibit by the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.

Waller said she traveled by car with her family to the capital earlier this month to attend the ceremony. The committee is also mailing her a certificate for her achievement.