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Southern Ulster Times , Wednesday , November 30 , 2016
IN THIS ISSUE
Calendar .......................................... 12 Craig McKinney ................................ 9 Classifieds ...................................... 32 Crossword ...................................... 34 Highland ......................................... 26 Letters to the Editor ........................ 9 Marlboro ........................................ 24 Obituaries ...................................... 30 Opinion ............................................. 8 Plattekill ........................................ 25 School News ................................... 20 Service Directory ........................... 36 Sports ............................................ 44
PUBLIC AGENDA
THURSDAY , DECEMBER 1
WHAT : Marlboro School Board WHEN : 7:30 p . m . WHERE : Marlborough Town Hall 21 Milton Tnpk , Milton .
WHAT : Marlborough Waterfront Revitalization Forum WHEN : 7 p . m . WHERE : Marlboro Elementary K-2 Cafeteria .
MONDAY , DECEMBER 5
WHAT : Marlborough Planning Board WHEN : 7 p . m . WHERE : Marlborough Town Hall 21 Milton Tnpk , Milton .
TUESDAY , DECEMBER 6
WHAT : Highland School Board WHEN : 7 p . m . WHERE : Highland High School 320 Pancake Hollow Rd ., Highland .
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The Southern Ulster Times , ( USPS 022-586 ) is a weekly newspaper published every Wednesday at Newburgh , NY 12550 , with offices at 300 Stony Brook Court , Newburgh , NY . Single copy : $ 1 at newsstand . By mail in Orange , Ulster or Sullivan Counties : $ 40 annually , $ 44 out of county . Periodicals permit at Newburgh , NY . POSTMASTER : Send address changes to Southern Ulster Times , 300 Stony Brook Court , Newburgh , NY 12550
UNICO honors student essays
By MARK REYNOLDS mreynolds @ tcnewspapers . com
The Marlborough chapter UNICO held their 23rd annual Italian heritage essay contest for Middle School students . This year the 7th and 8th grade First Place winners were Lindsay Stelling and Elizabeth Lofaro , respectively . Each received a $ 200 check and a commemorative plaque at a celebratory dinner at the Ship Lantern Inn in Milton where they read their winning submissions before family and friends .
Each year UNICO chooses an Italian themed topic for the contest , with essays of approximately 300 words in length . Seventh graders had the choice to write about Rome , Venice , Naples or Florence . The essay had to include the early history of the city , how the city influenced the culture of Italy and what the city is like today . Eighth graders were asked to write about the influence and legacy of the Medici family , the preeminent banking and political dynasty of 15th century Italy .
Lindsay Stelling became interested in Rome after learning about the ‘ Eternal City ’ last year in Social Studies class .
“ I learned that the Romans were really , really influenced by the Greeks ,” she said . “ I also learned that there are many old buildings there .”
Stelling said while writing the essay she was pleasantly surprised to learn that her father is of Italian ancestry . She was also struck by the fact that the Roman form of government is still in use today .
When she heard that she had won First Place , Stelling said , “ I screamed because I was really surprised . I was really happy .”
Stelling said when her teacher handed out a flyer about the essay contest her first reaction was “ this looks really interesting . So I did it and I ’ m happy now .” One day she hopes to visit Rome .
Elizabeth Lofaro said she found her topic fascinating .
“ I think just learning about the Medici family and the whole topic was really interesting to me ,” she said .
In her research Lofaro discovered similarities of power and influence of the Medici family to families in America ’ s ‘ Age of Industry ,’ such as the Rockefellers and Carnegies , which she studied in class .
Lofaro said history is important to her .
“ I think learning about the past
UNICO essay contest chairman Nick Johannets is flanked by 7th grade essay winner Lindsay Stelling ( L ) and 8th grade winner Elizabeth Lofaro .
and how our civilization came about is really interesting ,” she said , adding that she expects future topics in class will continue to intrigue her . She predicted , “ Once we keep learning about this kind of stuff it ’ s going to interest me a lot .”
When Lofaro learned she won First Place , “ I was really excited knowing that I won last year and this year too . I worked really hard and I ’ m glad that my hard work paid off . It ’ s nice that UNICO honors us .”
Nick Johannets , who chairs the event , said there are five independent judges who read the essays and make the award recommendations . He said Lofaro winning two years in a row is the 6th time that has happened in the contests long history .
Johannets said UNICO tries to pick topics that align with the student ’ s school curriculum , pointing out that even the exercise of trying to write well will stand them in good stead in the future .
At the 7th grade level the 2nd Place winner was Sophia Benanti and 3rd Place was awarded to Jack Bell . In 8th grade , 2nd Place went to Haley Collier and 3rd Place to Sarah Mackey .