In Brendan Coogan’s classroom at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, student Amy Fligor daintily painted her nails; all fifty of them. “We have a pot, like a deep fryer that we melt wax in,” Amy said. “I stuck my fingers in the wax . . . Now I’m trying to make the fingernails a little more pink.” Amy is one of 33 Martha’s Vineyard Regional High school students who received an award at the Boston Globe Scholastic Art Awards competition. Her waxed fingers holding a cup described by her as “holding the world in the palm of your hand,” received an honorable mention.

Ten Island high school students have been awarded top prizes in the Boston Globe’s 2012 Scholastic Art Awards for work ranging from a ceramic pot with a snake on it to a photo of bare feet in the rain.

The winning works, including ceramics, glass, drawings and photography, were selected from 14,000 entries, with less than 5 per cent winning the top honor, a Gold Key. Nine Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School students won Gold Keys, as did one Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School student.

What inspires the eye behind the camera? A friend climbing in and out of tree limbs, a close-up portrait of a fellow classmate, or perhaps it is the reflection of teenaged friends playing dress-up in an attic. For Chris Baer’s photography students at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, it doesn’t matter if they take a picture digitally or with film, it’s about having a good eye and good ideas.