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Southern Ulster Times, Wednesday, November 21, 2018
UNICO honors essay contest winners
IN THIS ISSUE
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By MARK REYNOLDS
[email protected]
F
or the past twenty-five years the
Marlborough Chapter of the National
Italian
Heritage
Organization
UNICO, has hosted an essay contest for
7th and 8th graders. They are charged
with researching and submitting a 300
word essay with an Italian theme.
The 2018 winners are 7th grader Alex
McAteer and for the second year in a row,
8th grader Malak Serdah. Each student
received $200 and a commemorative
plaque and were honored at a special
dinner that was held last week at the Ship
Lantern Inn in Milton.
Each year UNICO’s essay committee
develops the topics for the students. At
the 7th grade level, they had the choice
of writing about one of the following
inventors: Leonardo Da Vinci, Guglielmo
Marconi, Enrico Fermi or Galileo Galilei.
Students had to include biographical
information and describe their particular
invention(s) and how it impacted society
during and after their lifetimes.
At the 8th grade level, the students
were asked to write about what it would
be like to take an all-expense paid trip
to one of the following Italian cities;
Rome, Venice, Florence, Milan, Naples
or Sicily. They had to say why they chose
a particular city, what are some of the
significant landmarks, what types of
people did they come in contact with and
would they ever return and why.
McAteer chose Galileo Galilei, noting
that the inventor was born in Florence in
1564 and attended Camaldolese Monastery
in Vallombrosa and the University of Pisa
to study physics, math and medicine.
McAteer stated that due to a lack of
funds Galilei was unable to complete his
studies but eventually became a famous
astronomer, mathematician, physicist
and philosopher.
McAteer noted that Galilei not only
advanced his theories on motion and
falling objects and developed a universal
law on acceleration, his greatest
achievement was to observe through his
own telescope that Venus has phases like
the moon, which proved that it rotated
around the sun, and that Jupiter had
revolving moons, proving that it did not
revolve around the earth.
McAteer pointed out that Galilei’s
peers scoffed at his theories and his
writings were banned by the Catholic
Church because he supported the
Copernican theory, which posited that
the sun was at the center of our universe
and that earth and the planets circled
Alex McAteer and Malak Serdah, who were respectively the 7th and 8th grade First Place
winners in the 2018 UNICO Italian Heritage Essay Contest, pose with UNICO President and
Essay Committee Chairman Nick Johannets at the Ship Lantern Inn in Milton.
around it. McAteer said that Galilei
died in 1642 from a high fever and heart
palpitations and in 1992 Pope John Paul
II publicly expressed regret on how this
famous inventor and philosopher was
treated during his lifetime.
Serdah chose to write about Florence,
pointing out that many consider this
city the “artistic, historical and cultural
capital, not only of Tuscany, but of all
Italy.” She noted that the city has a
“gentle” way of enticing people to, “delve
deep into its art, culture and history.”
Serdah noted that the Florence
Cathedral, “Cattedrale di Santa Maria
del Fiore,” built during the Renaissance
(14th-17th centuries), is of particular
historical and architectural importance
and today is still the most popular
landmark in the area.
“Its huge masonry dome dominates
the skyline and has been decorated with
may religious illustrations,” she wrote.
Serdah also highlighted the 13th
century Palazzo Vecchio that functions
as a seat of local government. She makes
a compelling case that Florence, “is the
very foundation of Italian history and
shaped Italy into what it is today.”
Serdah wrote that while visitors are
attracted to the beauty of Florence, its
residents have tried to protect the city
from onlookers. She noted that the 13th
century poet Dante, “harshly criticized
his own people for their unwelcoming
demeanor.” But Serdah contends that
Florence, “is like a nice warm hug
on a cold evening, an unforgettable
experience; a city that can make one feel
at home and at ease in a matter of days.
Traveling to Florence is feeling nothing
but pure euphoria and bliss.” She pointed
out that Florence is the home, not only
of Dante, but also of Michelangelo and
Leonardo Da Vinci and contains some of
the country’s most famous and beloved
sculptures and artwork.
Serdah said at night the residents
of Florence come out into the streets to
sing and perform plays and dances while
dining on one of the city’s specialties, a
Florentine steak known as Affettati Misti.
Serdah concludes her essay by declaring
that, “life in Florence is straight out of a
fantasy.”
UNICO
President
and
Essay
Committee Chairman Nick Johannets
has been running the contest for about
20 years. He said winner Alex McAteer
lifted his spirits with a simple phone call
to confirm he was coming to the dinner.
“He’s so jubilant and said he’s so
Continued on page 18