The Heart of the Three Village Community
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6th Annual Helen Stein Shack Picture Book Award – Winning Books Highlight Imagination and Doing Your Part
Setauket, NY – March 12, 2020 –
Emma Clark Library is thrilled to announce the winners for the Helen Stein Shack Picture Book Award, an annual contest for junior high and high school students in the Three Village Central School District:
First Prize (Grades 7 – 9 category): Oliver’s Walk by Celia Gordon (8th grade
homeschooler)
First Prize (Grades 10 – 12 category): Your Part by Rebecca Blumenthal (11th grader at
Ward Melville High School)
Second Prize (Grades 7 – 9 category): The Knight and the Monster written by Ricky
Herling and illustrated by Ashton Hopkins (both 8th graders at Gelinas Junior High School)
Second Prize (Grades 10 – 12 category): How Tom Talks by Riley Meckley (10th grader at
Ward Melville High School)
For Oliver’s Walk, Celia Gordon used watercolors to illustrate the story of a baby bird and mother bird taking a stroll together. The bird uses his imagination and pretends that the puddle is really a river or that a single pink flower turns into a big bouquet for his mom. Your Part by Rebecca Blumenthal gives examples of what one can do to be a good person for the earth and for others. It’s told in a sing-song voice, which makes it a perfect read aloud book.
The winners will be celebrated at a private awards ceremony at Emma Clark Library on Monday, April 27, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. At the reception, each First Prize award recipient will receive a $400 scholarship, and each Second Prize award recipient will receive a $100 scholarship. The newly bound books – made into hardcover by the Library – will be presented to the winners and copies will be added to the Library’s Local Focus Collection. Light refreshments will be served at the reception, and desserts are once again being generously donated by The Bite Size Bake Shop, a local Three Village business.
The Helen Stein Shack Book Contest called for teens in grades 7 through 12 who live in the Three Village Central School District to create a children’s picture book. Each entry could be the work of a single author/illustrator or a collaborative effort of an author and an illustrator. The contest was divided into two grade categories, grades 7 through 9 and grades 10 through 12, with one First Prize Winner and one Second Prize Winner selected from each group.
This award is given in memory of Helen Stein Shack by her family. As a teacher, Mrs. Shack was committed to the education of children, and she especially loved literature written for them. She was a frequent visitor to Emma Clark Library where, even in retirement, she kept current with the latest children’s books. The Library is grateful to the children of the late Mrs. Shack who have established a substantial endowment with the Library to cover the cost of the prizes.
Past ceremonies have had Library trustees, teachers and top school district administrators, as well as elected officials from New York State, Suffolk County, and the Town of Brookhaven, all in attendance to honor the winners and present them with certificates. Emma Clark Library is delighted to once again host a ceremony to recognize these talented young authors and illustrators and to add their creative and heartwarming original books to the Library’s collection.
The Emma S. Clark Memorial Library, located at 120 Main Street in Setauket and online at www.emmaclark.org, provides public library service to all residents of the Three Village Central School District.
“The Heart of the Three Village Community”
Continued Commitment to Education & Creativity at the 5th Annual Helen Stein Shack Picture Book Award Ceremony
Setauket, NY – April 9, 2019 –
Emma Clark Library board members & staff, the family of the late Helen Stein Shack, local elected officials, representatives from the Three Village Central School District, and guests from the community gathered on Monday evening, April 8th to honor the winners of the fifth annual Helen Stein Shack Picture Book Award:
First Prize (Grades 7 – 9 category): Gerald’s Share by Nicole Xiao
First Prize (Grades 10 – 12 category): You Saved the Earth: A Plastic Bottle’s Journey by Juliet Weschke
Second Prize (Grades 7 – 9 category): Lily and Liam’s Summer at the Library by Riley Meckley
Second Prize (Grades 10 – 12 category): Simon’s Day at the Beach by Nicole Freeley
Library Director Ted Gutmann, along with the family of Helen Stein Shack, Legislator Kara Hahn, and Councilwoman Valerie Cartright presented all of the winners’ books – bound and added to the Library’s Local Focus Collection – along with $400 checks to first prize winners Nicole Xiao (8th grader at P.J. Gelinas Junior High School) and Juliet Weschke (10th grader at Ward Melville High School) and $100 checks for second prize winners Riley Meckley (9th grader at P.J. Gelinas Junior High School) and Nicole Freeley (11th grader at Ward Melville High School).
The speakers discussed how the contest and ceremony began 5 years ago as a tribute to the late Helen Stein Shack, especially fitting due to her love for learning and her particular fondness for Emma Clark Library. “We would come visit my grandma for a week, and she would take us straight here,” explained Mrs. Shack’s granddaughter Emma Kelly, who flew in from California for the event.
Councilwoman Cartright mentioned to the family that it is “such an amazing way to honor your mom and your grandma’s legacy, her commitment to education, recognizing that literacy is power.”
Legislator Kara Hahn spoke of the special lessons in each book. “When it’s a children’s book, the message does not only get through to the child. The message also gets through to the parent that’s reading it,” stated Legislator Hahn.
Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn and Brookhaven Town Councilwoman Valerie Cartright spoke at the event, and the winners also received certificates from Senator John J. Flanagan, Assemblyman Steven Englebright, Legislator Kara Hahn, Town Supervisor Edward Romaine, and Councilwoman Valerie Cartright. Library Board President Orlando Maione, Vice President Deborah Blair, Treasurer Christopher Fletcher, Secretary Carol Leister, and Trustees David Douglas and Suzanne Shane were there to congratulate the winners. Three Village Central School District President of the Board of Education William Connors, Superintendent Cheryl Pedisich, Assistant Superintendent for Educational Services Kevin Scanlon, Gelinas Junior High School Principal Corinne Keane, Ward Melville High School English Department Chair Vincent Cereola, Gelinas Junior High School English Department Chair Michelle Hanczor, and Gelinas Junior High School Librarian Nicole Connelly were all in attendance.
Guests enjoyed special treats donated by The Bite Size Bake Shop, a local Three Village-owned business. Ward Melville High School teen volunteer Ashley Mullen photographed the event.
The Helen Stein Shack Book Contest called for teens in grades 7 through 12 who live in the Three Village Central School District to create a children’s picture book. Each entry could be the work of a single author/illustrator or a collaborative effort between an author and an illustrator. The contest was divided into two grade categories, grades 7 through 9 and grades 10 through 12, with one First Prize Winner and one Second Prize Winner selected from each group.
Councilwoman Cartright remarked to the winners, “I’m delighted today to encourage you to continue using your creativity to share with others, to uplift others, because that’s what you’re doing by creating these books.”
The Library is grateful to the children of the late Mrs. Shack, who have established a substantial endowment with the Library to cover the cost of the awards as a tribute to their mother and her commitment to passing along the importance and joy of reading for generations to come.
Mrs. Shack’s son, Ed Taylor, spoke about the hard work and dedication that the winners and all of the participants have shown, and then imagined a glimpse into their futures. “These kids are going to grow up, and hopefully, they’ll have families of their own…and one night their kids are going to be lying in bed and ask for a good night story…and they’ll take a book off the shelf, and they’ll read it to their kids…and then they’ll tell them who the author was. That they wrote that book.”
The Emma S. Clark Memorial Library, located at 120 Main Street in Setauket and on the web at www.emmaclark.org, provides public library service to all residents of the Three Village Central School District.
“The Heart of the Three Village Community”
The Heart of the Three Village Community
