Hopewell Valley continued its dominance of the national Daughters of the American Revolution art and literary competition, capturing six 1st place awards at the national level and 19 top finishes at the state or Eastern regional level.

All of the district’s national awards came in the stamp design category. Big winners were Timberlane 6th grader Bridget Levandowski, CHS freshman Sarah McDade, sophomores Sarah Vite and Joan Wagner, junior Leah Giovannoli, and senior Andrew Womack.

The contest’s theme this year was America – Land of Opportunity.

Taking the top prize in either New Jersey or the regional level for their stamp designs were 6th grader Ben Geherty, 7th grader Anshu Sinha, 8th grader Michaela Qvale, CHS freshman Joy Frederick and junior Sara Gutierrez.

Sixth grader Teddy Slahedka won the top state award for his photo essay.

In the poem category, Stony Brook Elementary students Alessandro Stillitano and Yash Balaji and Timberlane 6th grader Lewis Chapman finished in first place in New Jersey. Timberlane students Devyn Montemarano, 6th grade, and Laura Niederer, 7th grade, placed 1st in the state for their short stories.
 
The Timberlane team of Katie Greener, Katina Angelakis and Gilly Rice captured the top prize in the New Jersey and regional contests, finishing in 2nd place at the national competition.

Winning state titles for their poster designs were Stony Brook 5th grader Ethan Seftor, Timberlane 6th graders Arianne Joson, Marilyn Widman and Tanya Glowitz.

Sarah Pfaff, 8th grader at Timberlane, won 1st place in New Jersey for her entry in the historically competitive essay category. This year’s theme was “Ideals of the Gettysburg Address.”

Other students finishing in second or third place at the state competition were Timberlane 6th graders Jordan Antebi, Young Sheng, Julia Coats, Christian David, Nicole Cieslik, Kelly Fischer, Grace Considine, Francesca Nong, Julia Heinzel, Elizabeth Kirz, Astrid Vermeulen, Ryan Schrader, Allison Willick, Krista Balto, Allaire Myer, Lexie Terzian, Cassie Lieu, Kelsey Roe and Fred Mason.

Seventh graders placing 2nd or 3rd at the state level were Smriti Dhar, Angela Scott, Caleb Dafilou and Shaina Karlin. Ninth grade winners were Sarah Mitrano, Ryan Murphy, Diana Fabian and Justin Boyle. Tenth graders finishing near the top in state competition were Jamie Johnson, Sydney Citrone, Chelsea French and Patrice Hall. Juniors Melissa Kolano, Olga Andreyeva, Mike DeGennaro and Rosalie Bush claimed top prizes, along with seniors Brianna McCarthy and Laura McGill.