Skelos Honors 3 Valley Stream Students At The I*ma*green*nation Celebration

On May 15^th, the New York State Senate held its 16^th annual "I*ma*GREEN*nation" celebration at the State Capitol in Albany. This year, New York State Senate Deputy Majority Leader Dean G. Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) was joined by Daniella Weinschreider from the Brooklyn Ave. School, and Tim Dolan and Nihal Majumber-Uddin from the William L. Buck Elementary School. Daniella won second place in Division I, Grades 1-3, Arts and Crafts for her project and Nihal and Tim received second place in Division III, Grades 6-8, Literature for their projects.

"These three students did a wonderful job on their projects, and I am extremely proud of them," said Senator Skelos. " "Daniella, Nihal, and Tim competed against hundreds of students from across New York State and their imaginative ideas were judged to be among the best in this year’s contest. All of our students who participated in the ‘I*ma*GREEN*nation’ program did a great job and I can’t wait to see what they come up with next year!"

The "I*ma*GREEN*nation" awards program was established to promote recycling and conservation and help develop environmental awareness among young people. Through this statewide competition, students in grades one through eight competed against their peers for presentation of ideas and solutions to the problem of solid waste reduction and encouraging recycling. Entries were judged for imagination, subject matter and creativity.

With more than 1,000 students traveling to Albany to attend the celebration, the students’ projects were displayed in "The Well" of the Legislative Office Building. Winners received award medals, certificates of accomplishment and spent the day with other "I*ma*GREEN*nation" participants. In addition, the festivities included a tour of the State Capitol building and goodie bags.