Brick Students' Essays Chosen For Statewide Publication

A quartet of fourth-graders from Veterans Memorial Elementary School have been honored as part of a statewide writing program.

Madalyn Kiesche, Ayla Zambardi, Kenneth Trautweiler, and Gavin Hansen, all students in Cheryl Hale’s fourth-grade enrichment class, were honored at Monmouth University’s Pollak Theatre on May 27 for their essays, which were selected for publication in The NJ Scoop: The Voice of the 4th Grade, a publication comprised of writings related NJ people, places, history, and happenings.

Since 2006, more than 70,000 students have written articles for the the publication, part of Celebrate New Jersey, an organization that seeks to educate people about the positive history of New Jersey, from its role in the American Revolution to its contributions to arts and entertainment. Much of the organization’s work is in the form of creative educational projects for teachers to use in their classrooms.

The NJ Scoop program has students choose one editorial area: Arts & Entertainment, Business, People in the News, Sports & Games, Science & Environment, Travel & Tourism, or Health & Wellness; then a more focused topic (i.e. John Travolta, Old Barracks, or the NJ Blueberry), and write a 150- to 250-word article.

The “Best of the Best” were selected by volunteer judges for this keepsake publication. The judges of the competition read more than 1,000 articles this year, and chose 200 essays.