The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

Contest

Attention Local Shutterbugs!

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Photo by Ronni Diamondstein

The New Castle Community Media Center (NCCMC) invites photographers to enter the Digital Photo Competition for the new Town of New Castle website.

This competition is open to photographers of ALL ages who live, work or go to school in the Town of New Castle.

The overall theme is “Our Town.”

In selecting photos for the website, NCCMC will look for images that showcase the Town of New Castle and its hamlets (Chappaqua and Millwood,) from landmarks and defining features to events and celebrations.

NCCMC is looking for striking digital images that celebrate and highlight the beauty of the Town of New Castle. They are especially interested in colorful and unique images that showcase the following traits: essential aspects of town and hamlet life, the changing seasons of New Castle and memorable New Castle events and celebrations

Photos must be submitted in digital format to NCCMC using the following link by June 30, 2019: nccmc.com/photocontest/

For questions, please contact photos@nccmc.com.

3rd Annual Bedford 2020 Greenlight Award Finals

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Will Showcase Students’ Big Green Accomplishments

The third annual Bedford 2020 Greenlight Award Finals on May 1st will feature high school contestants with big green ideas at the newly restored Bedford Playhouse in Bedford Village. “This is an exciting opportunity to see our future environmental leaders in action,” said Midge Iorio, Executive Director of Bedford 2020.

The theme of the Greenlight Award contest this year, Changemaker, challenged participants to not only come up with a big green idea, but also to prove that it could change behavior. “Behavior change is an important theme because causing people to do things differently is critical to the success of many environmental challenges,” Iorio explained. “The Finalists have caused people to change their behavior to address a variety of environmental problems – from greenhouse gas emissions to water pollution and waste.”

Several teams from Horace Greeley High School have advanced to the Finals and will present their projects before the judges and audience. The Greeley STOP Club worked on an anti-idling campaign, another student installed a kiosk where people can take or leave reusable bags, and a third team tapped into people’s interest in donating to charity to improve recycling habits.

Community members are encouraged to attend. “Our hope for the future will be elevated by these students who have taken on this challenge,” said Sarah Douglis, Bedford 2020 Board member and Pound Ridge resident. “I bring my kids, who are in elementary school, to the Greenlight  Finals so that they are inspired first hand by these high school role models and become part of this important movement of their generation of environmental leaders”

The eight teams of Finalists were selected from 19 initial teams from Fox Lane, Horace Greeley, Somers, Harvey, John Jay, and Rye Country Day high schools. Finalists received up to $1000 in seed funding and worked with community experts to develop and carry out their big green ideas. At the Finals, the teams will show how they worked with stakeholders, created and carried out a strategy, catalyzed behavior change, and measured their results. The most impactful project will win the Greenlight Award and a $500 cash prize.

The presentations will be scored by judges Kitley Covill, Westchester County Legislator, Dale Akinla of Morgan Stanley, and Caela Murphy of the Endeavor Foundation.

The 2017-2018 Greenlight Award is sponsored by PepsiCo.

The Greenlight Award Finals will take place on Tuesday, May 1st at 6:30pm at the Bedford Playhouse, 633 Old Post Rd, Bedford, NY.

For more information about the Greenlight Award visit www.bedford2020.org/greenlight

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Bedford 2020 is a non-profit organization leading a community-wide effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to create a sustainable community that conserves natural resources. More information is available at www.Bedford2020.org.

Destination Imagination Team Places First at Regional Competition

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Top row: Lisa Shaiken (coach), Zachary Harpaz, Sidney Magliari, Alex Brandoff, Tara Brandoff (coach)
Bottom Row: Riddhi Goenka, Alyssa Rose, Henry McEvoy, Jenna Shaiken

Chappaqua’s first Destination Imagination (DI) team comprised of seven Chappaqua 6th graders recently placed first in their category at a regional competition held in Ossining. In addition to winning first place the team called the Pirates received an honorary award–the DaVinci Award –for a creative solution that combined art and science.   

Of the seven main challenge category types, the Pirates competed in the Technical challenge–in which they had to design and build a maze traveler that, using any technical method, could complete one of eight possible mazes.  The maze was chosen two minutes before their performance, and while their traveler completed the maze, the team had to tell a story about the traveler’s voyage, have the traveler remove an object from the maze using a technical method, and transform a prop using a technical method. Additionally, the Pirates had to include two elements in their presentation that showed off a team member’s specific skill or interest.

To complete the challenge, the team’s maze traveler was a stripped down remote control car which they hacked its receiver, electronic speed control and steering servo. They attached an Arduino chip to the receiver and coded the chip to control the car instead of its normal controller. Then, they attached a Bluetooth controller so that we can send instructions through an iPhone. They developed a C++ driving program that lets them send a string of commands to the car based on the maze. The car was then able to fully navigate itself in an autopilot mode.

The Pirates won their tournament on April 7 in Binghamton and they’ll be representing New York State by competing at the global level in May.

Lisa Shaiken, one of the team’s coaches was first exposed to DI when her daughter, Jenna, was in 4th grade. She went to school in another district which offered this program as an after school activity.  “Jenna was super excited about trying it and begged me to be her team’s coach. It was a wonderful experience and our team won the regional, state and made it to the global competition,” noted Shaiken.

“I learned more about myself and discovered things about myself that I didn’t know. This has really given me more confidence and I’m more open to sharing my opinions and listening to others,” explained Jenna Shaiken, a sixth grader at Seven Bridges Middle School and team member. Another participant, Alyssa Rose said,“I’ve learned that teamwork is incredibly important if you want to accomplish something.”

Lowey Announces 2018 Congressional Art Competition

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Lowey Announces 2018 Congressional Art Competition

Winner will travel to Washington, DC, meet with Congresswoman Lowey, and have art displayed in U.S. Capitol.  

Deadline for submissions is April 17, 2018.  

WHITE PLAINS, NY – Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-NY17/Rockland-Westchester) today announced the 2018 Congressional Art Competition for New York’s 17th Congressional District.

The Congressional Art Competition is a nationwide high school visual art competition to recognize and encourage artistic talent in the nation and in each congressional district. Each spring, students submit entries to their representative’s office, and panels of district artists select the winning entries. Winners are recognized both in their districts and at an annual awards ceremony in June in Washington, DC. The winning works are displayed for one year in the U.S. Capitol.

“New York’s 17th Congressional District is fortunate to be home to so many excellent young artists, whose talents make important contributions to the Lower Hudson Valley’s identity,” said Congresswoman Lowey. “I always look forward to this competition because it’s a chance to recognize the creativity and talent of our young people, and to showcase their work to countless  visitors in the U.S. Capitol every year.”

All entries must be submitted to either Congresswoman Lowey’s White Plains or New City office by Tuesday, April 17, 2018. Students may submit their two-dimensional artwork and release form by mail or in person on weekdays between the hours of 9 AM and 6 PM.

The competition is open to high school students only.

The judged competition will take place in late April or early May. In addition to having their work displayed in the U.S. Capitol, the first place winner will also be invited to attend a reception in Washington, DC, and to meet with Congresswoman Lowey and other nationwide winners.

For information and guidelines about the competition, visit Congresswoman Lowey’s website HERE. Students, parents, and teachers can also contact the congresswoman’s District Representative Yma Oriaat Yma.Oria@mail.house.gov (preferred) or (914) 428-1707.

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