Stony Brook Students are Winners in State Contest

                        Caroline Kornbrek, fifth grade student at Stony Brook School has been honored by the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ for her first place award-winning essay and poster on the state’s endangered and threatened species.  Caroline was the first place winner chosen from Somerset County in a statewide contest for fifth graders sponsored by the Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ.  The contest drew over 2, 000 entries from throughout the state.  Caroline is joined by her classmates, Emily Cleary and Sage O’Neill who were also chosen from Somerset County as second place and honorable mention winners respectively. 

Caroline, Emily and Sage, along with all of Mrs. Burke’s 5^th grade Gate students, submitted entries in which they were each asked to compose an essay about how the endangered animal of their choice became endangered and what people can do to help protectit.  In addition, the poster designs hadto reflect the unique characteristics of the animal in its natural environmentand be tied in to the essay. Caroline chose the Silver-bordered fritillarybutterfly, and Emily and Sage, the bobcat. 

The Conserve Wildlife Foundation ofNJ is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to preserving mammals, birds,amphibians and reptiles and fish and invertebrates as well as the habitats theydepend on for survival.  Through educational programs such as this one, students are encouraged to take a standand bring attention to an important cause. As Caroline states in her essay, “What would the summer be without butterflies?”