Ossining Student Recognized for Naming one of the Tappan Zee Bridge Falcons

Each spring, elementary and middle school students from the region are invited to help name the Tappan Zee Bridge peregrine falcons’ hatchlings. Students in Claremont School’s fourth-grade STEM class had a number of suggestions for this year’s eyases.

The children are studying the various types of bridges in STEM, which led them to take part in the Falcon Naming Contest. They entered several names, some in English and some in Spanish. They included Sol (sun in Spanish), Valiente (brave) and Auggie from the children’s book “Wonder.” But the name that the New NY Bridge Project chose as a finalist was fourth-grader Emily Alvarez’ suggestion: Puente (bridge in Spanish).

The Ossining School District student’s name was one of the winners; the other was Tarrytalon, which was submitted by an Ardsley student. Representatives of the New York State Thruway Authority and the New NY Bridge Project visited Emily’s classroom Monday to present a certificate and speak with students. They initially had received about 50 suggestions and whittled the finalists down to 10, which the public voted on during an online poll this month.

Emily said she was surprised, happy and excited, yet nervous about all the attention she was receiving. “I never thought this moment would happen,” she said.

She initially thought of the name Bridge, and STEM teacher Micki Lockwood encouraged her to translate the word into Spanish."I said Puente. So that’s how I came up with the name,” said Emily, who received a bouquet of roses from Ms. Lockwood.

Puente and Tarrytalon won out over Gold Claw, Skylar, Flappin Zee, Falco, Tappsey, Jimmy Falcon, Little Zee and Peanut.

The state is building a $4 billion new Tappan Zee Bridge, and the man-made falcon’s nest will be relocated when the new structure is completed. A bridge engineer installed a wooden crate atop the superstructure a few decades ago, and the falcons have returned again and again to nest.

Puente flew the nest sometime between 4 and 4:30 p.m. Tarrytalon fledged the nest Wednesday. The hatchlings typically leave after about 40 days.

“They’re a protected species,” said Kristine Edwards, environmental compliance manager for the New NY Bridge Project. “That means there are not very many of them left, so the reason I’m on the job on the bridge is to make sure that when we’re building the new bridge or taking down the old bridge, we’re protecting this protected species.”

Andrew O’Rourke, who does educational outreach for the New NY Bridge Project, said Puente was not initially winning, but the district’s organized social media campaign elevated the name on the list. He will return to Claremont with a team in June to host an assembly for the fourth-grade bridge engineers.

Ms. Lockwood said the Falcon Naming Contest is a perfect addition to fourth-graders’ study of different types of bridges, including beam, arch, cantilever (the existing Tappan Zee), suspension and cable stayed (the new Tappan Zee). Claremont students have a license to tinker, build and experiment with projects that range from building structures out of toothpicks and marshmallows to programming robots in the STEM classroom. The classroom is part of the district’s efforts to bring science, technology, engineering and math to younger children.

“The fact that we’re realizing the importance of bringing it down to the younger students will inspire children, hopefully more girls, to enter careers that have to do with science, technology, engineering and math,” she said.

For her part, Emily said she wants to be an engineer. “I like building and constructing stuff,” she said.

Ms. Lockwood said the name Puente is symbolic in a number of ways. “It wasn’t just that the word meant bridge,” she said. “It meant bringing people together. It meant bridging the gap between two places, and it also brought English and Spanish together.”