2nd ANNUAL STUDENT ENERGY CONSERVATION ESSAY and ART CONTEST

AWARDS CEREMONY: Wed., April 30, 2008
War Memorial Auditorium
Newton City Hall

The contest was sponsored by the Green Decade and the Newton Schools Foundation with support from the Mayor's Office for Cultural Affairs, the New Art Center, the Newton Community Service Center, William M. Pollack and NSTAR. Awards were presented by special guest Mayor David Cohen.

All the first place entries.
All the winning art entries
Photos from the awards ceremony
(photos by Shawn P. Fitzgibbons)

Mayor David Cohen presented awards to winners of the Green Decade Coalition's Second Annual Newton Essay and Art Contest for Energy Conservation on Wednesday evening, April 30 at the War Memorial Auditorium at City Hall. The contest sponsors, NSTAR and the Newton Schools Foundation, generously donated prize money totaling $1500 for the essay contest; art contest prize funds were donated by a private group of businesses this year. Prizes were presented by Green Decade president Ana Zarina Asuaje Solon and Energy Committee Chair Eric Olson.

In addition, the Mayor presented an award certificates to four teachers with the largest groups of entrants: Dirk Detlefsen (Countryside Elementary School), Marianne Marks (Oak Hill Middle School), Rhonda Rendulich (Burr Elementary School) and Stacy Pyron of the New Art Center.

Nearly 300 people attended the award ceremony, including the winners, their families, and the contest sponsors and judges. Over 150 students entered this year's contest, with 105 in the art contest and 51 in the essay contest, including 8 students who submitted both essay and artwork.

Newton's energy consumption continues to climb in spite of increased awareness of the harm caused by CO2 emissions and global warming. Newton City government has already made great strides in reducing energy consumption and is well on the way to reaching it's goal of 20% reduction. Now it is time for the citizens of Newton to follow suit.

The Green Decade's goal is that this annual essay and art contest will inspire Newton residents of all ages to conserve more resources, especially those that cannot be easily replenished. Essay Contest judges were Martha Cleveland, Jenny Craddock, Martha Cleveland, Ann Dannenberg, Ira Krepchin, Lois Levin, Mary McCarthy, Helen Rittenberg and David Tannozzini. Art Contest judges were Arlene Bandes, Marcia Cooper, Michele Davis, Beverly Droz, Carolyn Knight and Wendy Lewis. This year's contest coordinators were Amanda Frank for Art and Oleg Kordunskiy for Essay.

ESSAY Contest ART Contest

K - 2
1st Prize: Amrita Shankar, Franklin
2nd Prize: Caroline Saksena, Countryside
3rd Prize (tie): Angela DeNucci & Noelle Quinn, Williams
3rd Prize(tie): Sophia Wilcox-Warren, Cabot

K - 2
1st Prize: Noah Whiting, Mason Rice
2nd Prize: Will Riley, Cabot
3rd Prize: Caroline Saksena, Countryside
Honorable Mention (4)
    Max Schaefer, Burr
    Micah Long, Peirce
    Lily Durbin, Bowen
    Hannah Kiritsy, Bowen

Elementary School
1st Prize: Sarah Dahl, Countryside
2nd Prize: Charles Goodfriend, Countryside
3rd Prize: Eliza Beth, Countryside
Honorable Mention (4)
    Dianne Lee, Ward
    Julia Mount, Countryside
    Sam Fidler, Countryside
    Jacob Silverman, Angier

Elementary School
1st Prize: Grace Ledgard, Burr
2nd Prize: Matia Whiting, Mason Rice
3rd Prize: Rachel Tils, Peirce
Honorable Mention (4)
    Sarah Dembling, Countryside
    Anna Nesgos, Burr
    Ann Shattuc, Underwood
    Sarah Dahl, Countryside

Middle School
1st Prize: Jasper Barbash-Taylor, Oak Hill
2nd Prize: Josh Nislick, Oak Hill
3rd Prize: Leah Abercrombie, Oak Hill
Honorable Mention (4)
    Ravi Panse, Oak Hill
    Josh Sapers, Oak Hill
    Karina Alfisher, Oak Hill
    Benjamin Kim, Oak Hill

Middle School
1st Prize: Vivian Liu, Oak Hill
2nd Prize: Elena Byun, Oak Hill
3rd Prize: Melissa, Sullivan, Corwin-Russell School at Broccoli Hall
Honorable Mention (4)
    Marina Miller, F. A. Day
    Sima Kasraie, Oak Hill
    Kelly Lo, Oak Hill
    Chloe Fulara, Oak Hil

High School
1st Prize (tie): Carolyn Ranti, N.North
1st Prize (tie): Daniel Sulkin, N. South

High School
1st Prize: Angelina Zhou, Newton North
2nd Prize: Phoebe Nesgos, Newton North
3rd Prize: Elizabeth Ruby, Newton North
Honorable Mention (4)
    James Perkins Newton North
    Jordan Schnee, Newton South
    Elizabeth Shrier, Newton North
    Daniel Sulkin, Newton South

SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARDS
Shohini Kundu, Amherst Regional Middle School
Andrew Schneider, Oak Hill
Alexandra Palmer, The Winsor School
Thanks to our sponsors