Area Students Among Honorees For Statewide Book Review Contest
Six eighth-grade pupils from across New York were honored recently for their winning entries in the second-annual statewide Book Review Contest co-sponsored the Robert H. Jackson Center and by the New York State Bar Association.
Among the regional honorees was Meghann Nielsen of Brocton, as well as, Chautauqua County winners Maggie Mason of Sherman Central School and Michael Rockey of Holy Family Catholic School.
In attendance for the evening’s celebration were special guest and keynote speaker Dr. Helen Fagin, holocaust survivor and former professor of English and director of Judaic studies at the University of Miami, Fla; Rolland Kidder, executive director of the Jackson Center; and Debbie Shayo, director of the New York State Bar Association’s Law, Youth and Citizenship program.
Hundreds of eighth graders from around the state participated in the contest and were asked to describe how the book Milkweed, by Jerry Spinnelli, affected their opinions about the incarceration of Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II. Milkweed, written from the perspective of a 12-year-old orphan on the streets of the ghetto, won the American Library Association’s Best Books for Young Adults Award and Carolyn W. Field Award in 2004.
Spinelli, who also attended the event, presented each of the award winning students an autographed copy of Milkweed.
For the second consecutive year, the New York State Bar Association’s Law, Youth and Citizenship program worked in partnership with the Jackson Center to sponsor and promote this writing contest. The Law Youth and Citizenship program seeks to provide programs, training and materials that enhance student understanding of the law, constitutional form of government and the rights and responsibilities of citizens.
‘‘The writing competition is part of The Jackson Center’s ongoing mission to reach out to elementary, middle and secondary school students with educational events related to the legacy of Robert H. Jackson,’’ Kidder said.
‘‘In this case, his legacy of preserving the record of the Holocaust through his efforts at the Nuremberg War Trial.’’
In addition to Meghann Nielsen, the other statewide winners are:
• Marguerite Vichier-Guerre, grade 8, of Horseheads Middle School in Horseheads
• Daniel Claridge, grade 8, Van Antwerp Middle School in Schenectady
• Ryan Zimmerman, grade 7, Bellvale School in Chester
• Jensen Reckhow, grade 8, New York City Lab School for Collaborative Studies in Manhattan
• Rebecca Plock, grade 8 Southold Junior Senior High School in Southold.
The 71,000-member New York State Bar Association is the official statewide organization of lawyers in New York and the nation’s largest, voluntary statewide bar association.