Why shop in town? Some local students gave their reasons by entering the the "Shop Port Holiday Essay Contest" sponsored by the Greater Port Washington Business Improvement District.

Ten are taking home cash prizes while 14 earn honorable mentions at an awards ceremony hosted by the BID's board of directors on Feb 9 in the Lapham Meeting Room at the Port Washington Public Library;  5-6:30 p.m. All are invited to attend. 

The competition, open to all Kindergarten through high school students enrolled in the Port Washington School District and St. Peter of Alcantara School, encouraged Port Washington’s youth to write what creative things they would do to make shopping in Port an exciting and memorable experience and how would they accomplish their goals.

The contest was broken down into four categories: elementary K-2, elementary 3-5, middle school and high school.

Middle school and high school students were asked to write essays of approximately 500 words. Elementary students K-2nd Grade could submit posters while 3rd - 5th graders’ essays needed to be approximately 100 – 150 words. All were challenged to explain how they would advertise, how their business would be different from other PW shops or those in the mall and what other methods would they use to bring customers into their business.   

Cash prizes were offered to the top entries in each division: elementary school K-2, 1st Prize - $50 for each grade level; elementary school 3-5, 1st Place - $200; 2nd Place - $100; middle school; 1st Place - $300, 2nd Place - $150; and high school 1st Place - $500, 2nd Place - $250.

The winners are:

Grade School (K-2)

• 1st Prize - Yasmen Munoz – Kindergarten (Guggenheim School)
• 1st Prize -  Sam Rothenberg – 1st Grade (Daly School)(Tie)
• 1st Prize -  Epsy Cassidy – 1st Grade (Sousa School)(Tie)
• 1st Prize -  Bella Feigin – 2nd Grade (Guggenheim School)

Grade School (3-5)

• 1st Prize – Anthony Guzzello  – 5th Grade (Daly School)
• 2nd Prize – Caleb Thomas – 3rd Grade (Salem School)

Middle School

• 1st Prize – Jillian Keyes -  8th Grade (Weber Middle School)
• 2nd Prize –Naome Sajnani - 7th Grade (Weber Middle School)

High School

• 1st Prize – Noah White - 10th Grade (Schreiber High School)
• 2nd Prize – Ryan Schwartz - 11th Grade (Schreiber High School)

In addition, due to the high number of quality submissions in all categories, the BID’s judges decided to establish an Honorable Mention Award for those who came so very close to winning the top prizes.  

They are:  

 Grade School

• Claire Blumberg (Daly School)
• William Lowe (St. Peter’s)
• Maximus Mongelli (St. Peter’s)
• Jonathan Nadolne (Salem School)
• Christina Sanders (St. Peter’s)

 Middle School

•     Kieran Dennis – 6th Grade (St. Peter’s)
•     Madeline Fagen – 8th Grade (Weber)
•     Jonathan Lin – 7th Grade (Weber)
•     Will Popovich – 6th Grade (St. Peter’s)
•     Helena Sanders – 7th Grade (St Peter’s)

 High School

• Christina Corbo – 11th Grade (Schreiber)
• Taehoon Kim – 11th Grade (Schreiber)
• Stephen Jagard – 12th Grade (Schreiber)
• Ali Seltzer – 11th Grade (Schreiber)

The winning entries will be displayed at the award ceremony. Checks and Certificates of Merit will be presented to each of the winners.

Dr. Nicholas A. Stirling, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment for the Port Washington Schools and Sean O’Connell, Principal, of St. Peter of Alacantara School will be on hand to assist in the presentations. Other invited guest speakers include Dr. Geoffrey N. Gordon, Superintendent of Port Schools; Mr. Ira Pernick, Principal, Schreiber High School; Ms. Marilyn M. Rodahan, Principal, Weber Middle School, Mr. Drew Graves, Principal, Daly School, Ms. Barbara Giebel, Principal, Guggenheim School, Mr. Christopher Shields, Principal, South Salem School and Mr. David Meoli, Principal, John Philip Sousa School.

There will also be representation from federal, state and local elected officials.

The Greater Port Washington BID’s Board of Directors gratefully acknowledges the following for their support and sponsorship:

Ayhan’s Shish Kebab Restaurants
Bubba Brown’s Treasures, 302 Main Street, PW
Christina Cheng Designer Accessories, 158 Main Street, PW
Elizabeth V. Stephens, My Studio, 284 Main Street, PW
Finn MacCool’s Restaurant, 205 Main Street, PW
Mario Tucci, Artist, My Studio, 284 Main Street, PW
Toscanini Ristorante Italiano, 179 Main Street, PW
Twin Pines Co-op, 382 Main Street, PW