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Dutchess County Students Win Trips To Dream Destinations

HYDE PARK, N.Y. -- Students who entered Teaching the Hudson Valley’s writing contest in the hopes of winning a dream trip, delighted the judges with their impressions of – and feelings about – places in the region. 

Asa Miller, from Haldane Elementary School wrote and drew about Fishkill Farms and will introduce his class to the farm.

Asa Miller, from Haldane Elementary School wrote and drew about Fishkill Farms and will introduce his class to the farm.

Photo Credit: Teaching the Hudson Valley
Archie Lakhman placed first with "Sunshine, salt marsh, and sand shrimp: My visit to the Marshlands Conservancy in Rye." He attends Hommocks Middle School in Westchester County and will visit the Marshlands with his fellow sixth graders.

Archie Lakhman placed first with "Sunshine, salt marsh, and sand shrimp: My visit to the Marshlands Conservancy in Rye." He attends Hommocks Middle School in Westchester County and will visit the Marshlands with his fellow sixth graders.

Photo Credit: Teaching the Hudson Valley
Skyler Fountain won second place in the middle school division. She is a student at Millbrook Middle School in Dutchess County. She wrote about the town of Washington pool.

Skyler Fountain won second place in the middle school division. She is a student at Millbrook Middle School in Dutchess County. She wrote about the town of Washington pool.

Photo Credit: Teaching the Hudson Valley
Tyler VanDeBogart, won third place for middle schools, he is a seventh graders at Millbrook Middle School, Dutchess County. and he wrote"Baseball Diamond, LaGrange.“

Tyler VanDeBogart, won third place for middle schools, he is a seventh graders at Millbrook Middle School, Dutchess County. and he wrote"Baseball Diamond, LaGrange.“

Photo Credit: Teaching the Hudson Valley

In the coming months many of their poems and essays will be published on the organizations' blog. In the meantime, the top-scoring authors in the "Writing About Place," contest and their classmates will win an all expense paid trip to the area they wrote about in order for them to learn about, and experience the area.

Here are this year’s winners: 

  • Asa Miller, Haldane Elementary School, Putnam County, placed second. He wrote and drew about Fishkill Farms and will introduce his class to the farm. 
  • Archie Lakhman placed first with "Sunshine, salt marsh, and sand shrimp: My visit to the Marshlands Conservancy in Rye." He attends Hommocks Middle School in Westchester County and will visit the Marshlands with his fellow sixth-graders. 
  • Skyler Fountain and Tyler VanDeBogart, won second and third place for middle schools, both are seventh- graders at Millbrook Middle School, Dutchess County. Skyler wrote "The Town of Washington Pool" and Tyler, "Baseball Diamond, LaGrange.“

"In 2016 the National Park Service is celebrating its centennial by encouraging everyone to Find Your Park,” said Sarah Olson, superintendent, Roosevelt-Vanderbilt-Van Buren National Historic Sites. “This year’s 'Writing about Place' entries depicted a wide-range of local treasures from a sculpture park to a community pool to the Hudson River itself. Their poems and essays are wonderful expressions of the instinct many of us share to find places that comfort, inspire, and provide meaning.” 

Teaching the Hudson Valley sponsors Writing about Place as part of the annual National Day on Writing organized each October by the National Council of Teachers of English, the National Writing Project, and others. Support was provided by Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Friends of John Jay Homestead, Oblong Books and Music, and the Poughkeepsie Farm Project. Public, private, and homeschooled students throughout the 11-county Hudson River Valley National Heritage area are eligible to participate. 

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