Wantagh Artists Named Top Poster Artists

WANTAGH, NY — A pair of students in the Wantagh School District won a countywide honor this week, as district officials announced they had won the Nassau County chapter of the Science Teachers Association of New York State’s poster competition.

For fifth grader Lilyan Rushforth and sixth grader Allison Amador, the poster competition connected art with advocacy, as the duo made posters to fit the theme “Bring Chemistry to Life: Protect Our Marine World.” The competition was offered in conjunction with the New York State Marine Education Association, and took on 112 submissions from over a dozen districts.

For Mandalay Elementary STEAM teacher Alexa Stroh, Rushforth’s accomplishment was a source of pride. Rushforth won the elementary school group of the competition with her poster, which gave viewers instructions on how they could help save turtles. The poster, Rushforth said, had been inspired by seeing a turtle during a snorkeling voyage.

“I am very proud of her and this shows that she really cares about turtles and about science,” Stroh said. “It’s unbelievable that she has the skill set to create something so well researched and that looks like a professional poster.”

As part of her first prize, Rushforth will receive a free trip to the Cold Spring Harbor Whaling Museum and Education Center, district officials said.

Meanwhile at the middle school level, Amador’s poster was initially a way to score extra credit points in science class; she hand-drew a poster about how to reduce water pollution that, like Rushforth’s, presented tips on how people can make a positive difference in marine animals’ lives.

For Michelle Zipfel, the science teacher in whose class Amador was trying for extra credit, seeing one of her students win was a just reward for hard work.

“Allison’s poster stood out because it was informative and creative,” Zipfel said, adding that four of her students entered the contest. “She put a lot of work into it. Allison is a great student with a passion for the environment.”

Meanwhile, for Amador, the contest was about a little more than school. Not only did she walk away from the contest with four tickets to the Atlantic Marine Conservations Society facility in the Hampton Bays, but she got to feel like she made a difference while working at her favorite subject in school.

“I liked participating in the contest,” Amador said. “I feel like I made a difference for the animals.”