European Beech at Echo Lake Park. Photo credit County of Union NJ
(UNION COUNTY, NJ) -- In recognition of Arbor Day 2023, the Union County Board of County Commissioners is pleased to announce the winners of the annual Union County Arbor Day Poetry Contest. The contest is held each year to encourage environmental stewardship and tree conservation among students in grades 4-8, in partnering with the Union County Shade Tree Advisory Board.
“Helping to raise awareness about the role of trees in our environment is a valuable civic service for students, and the Poetry Contest is a wonderful opportunity to practice writing and communicating in a public setting. We congratulate our awardees, who demonstrated exemplary skill and writing ability to earn their winning honors, and we also appreciate the efforts of every student who submitted a poem and shared their creative insights with the community,” said Commissioner Chairman Sergio Granados.
“Each year we look forward to hearing the voices of the young people in our community in the Poetry Contest. They teach us to appreciate our natural heritage, and they encourage us to do our best to preserve and protect the environment that sustains us. Congratulations to all the winners for your beautiful poems,” said Commissioner Lourdes Leon, the Commissioner Board Liaison to the Shade Tree Advisory Board.
An awards ceremony and public presentation for the winners will be held during a regular public meeting of the Commissioner Board on Thursday, April 27.
Arbor Day has been a national observance since 1872, encouraging the public to plant and care for trees. This year it will be celebrated on Friday, April 28.
The awards were conferred on the first, second, and third place winners in each grade:
4th Grade
1st Place – Alyssa DeMarco, Henley School, Clark
2nd Place – Amaya Gonzalez, Mountain Park Elem. School, Berkeley Heights
3rd Place – Max Keat, Lincoln School, Garwood
5th Grade
1st Place – Anna Morozovych, Mountain Park Elem. School, Berkeley Heights
2nd Place – Tania Alvarado-Valverde, Lincoln School, Garwood
3rd Place – Julia Ruiz, Mountain Park Elem. School, Berkeley Heights
6th Grade
1st Place – Karl Asuncion, Terrill Middle School, Scotch Plains
2nd Place – Sloane Bienkowski, Lincoln School, Garwood
3rd Place - Pravens Dauphin, Ola Edwards Community School, Hillside
7th Grade
1st Place - Madelynn Knierim, Lincoln School, Garwood
2nd Place – Julia Pappalardo, Terrill Middle School, Scotch Plains
3rd Place – Athena Bishop, Terill Middle School, Scotch Plains
8th Grade
1st Place -Luke Esmerado, Columbia Middle School, Berkeley Heights
2nd Place – Courtney Kilmer, Lincoln School, Garwood
3rd Place – Valerie Cespedes, Kawameeh Middle School, Union
Quick links to all Union County environmental activities and programs are available at The Green Connection, ucnj.org/green-connection.
