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Join us to celebrate the winners of the My Favorite Teacher Contest.
Barnes & Noble City Center, home of the world’s largest bookseller, today announced the following local winners of the “Barnes & Noble My Favorite Teacher Contest,” as:
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- Ms. Barbara Caridi from
- Mr. Matthew Hommez, a music teacher
- Ms. Jody Kennedy, /Middle School art teacher
The teachers were chosen from more than 150 entries at the Barnes & Noble on Main St. in White Plains.
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The teachers were nominated by three winning students; fifth grader, Andrea Gomez; eighth grader, Olivia Bratkovics and 11th grader, Robin Stieglitz.
Students were invited to nominate their teacher by writing essays, poems or thank you letters that share how their teacher has influenced their life and why they appreciate and admire their teacher.
Entries were judged on the compelling nature of the teacher’s qualities, the sincerity of the student’s appreciation and the quality of expression and writing.
Ms. Caridi, Mr. Hommez and Mrs. Kennedy will be recognized at a reception at the Barnes & Noble City Center, 230 Main St. in White Plains on Friday, April 20th at 5:30 PM where they will receive special awards acknowledging their achievements, a set of children’s Classics books for their personal or classroom library, and additional recognition and praise from the community.
The students who wrote the winning essays, will receive a certificate of recognition, gifts from Barnes & Noble and the White Plains Youth Bureau and will be honored at the City Center store during a ceremony for the winning teacher.
The master of ceremonies is Dr. Christopher Clouet, Superintendent of Schools for the White Plains Public School District. The honorable Mayor Thomas Roach will present a proclamation from the City of White Plains.
The highlight of the program is that the top three essays will be read aloud by the students to their favorite teachers.
Ms. Caridi, Mr. Hommez and Mrs. Kennedy will now be entered into the regional competition where six winners will be chosen. Each regional winner will receive a NOOKcolor™ eBook Reader and a $500 Barnes & Noble Gift Card.
From the pool of six regional winners, Barnes & Noble will name one teacher the “Barnes & Noble National Teacher of the Year.” The winning teacher will receive $5,000 and the title of “My Favorite Teacher.”
The winner will be recognized at a special community celebration at a local Barnes & Noble store. The winning teacher’s school will receive $5,000. The winner will also receive five copies of the winning essay published in hardcover by Tikatok.com, the site where students create and publish their own books, and a $250 Tikatok Gift Card that will allow the teacher to publish select stories written by students in his or her class.
The Barnes & Noble My Favorite Teacher program provides students with the opportunity to tell their communities how much they appreciate their teachers.
Teachers from Grade 1 through 12 were eligible for nomination. Awards include cash prizes for the teachers and schools, NOOK® eReaders and more.
Only students enrolled in Grades 1 through 12 and teachers employed in elementary, middle or high schools in the United States are eligible to win.
More details on the contest rules can be found at www.bn.com/myfavoriteteacher.
ABOUT BARNES & NOBLE, INC.
Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS), the world's largest bookseller and a Fortune 500 company, operates 703 bookstores in 50 states. Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Barnes & Noble, also operates 637 college bookstores serving over 4.6 million students and faculty members at colleges and universities across the United States. Barnes & Noble conducts its online business through BN.com (www.bn.com), one of the Web's largest e-commerce sites, which also features more than two million titles in its NOOK Bookstore™ (www.bn.com/ebooks). Through Barnes & Noble’s NOOK™ eReading product offering, customers can buy and read digital books and content on the widest range of platforms, including NOOK devices, partner company products, and the most popular mobile and computing devices using free NOOK software.
General information on Barnes & Noble, Inc. can be obtained via the Internet by visiting the company's corporate website: www.barnesandnobleinc.com.
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