2016 Student Projects Contest
CONGRATULATIONS
to all the participants in the
11th Annual Student Contest
This Year’s Quote is:
“Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much”
-Helen Keller (1880-1968)
Winning Essay Grades 9-12
Aoi Hadama, Keio Academy of New York, Purchase, NY
Teacher: Carol Riddle
There were huge earthquakes in Kumamoto, Japan on April 14,15, and 16.
So many houses collapsed and cracked. My house was safe, but my family
evacuated to Fukuoka prefecture which is next to Kumamoto. Also, there
are still some problems of infrastructures. Therefore, people have to
collaborate and work with others many times even if they didn’t
experience the earthquake. For instance, distributing supplies, fund
raising and sharing information on Twitter and Facebook are forms of
collaboration.
First, distributing supplies with other people is important to
collaborate. In Kumamoto, many people such as the Self-Defense Force of
Japan, police officers, fire fighters and normal people have rationed
goods. My aunt said that because these people came to the disaster
areas and helped by volunteering, many disaster victims felt safe and
could rely on them. Also, if these volunteers collaborate more, the
circulation of supplies will be more rapid and accurate. So disaster
areas will be able to revitalize quickly.
Second, fund raising is important too. This is because if one person
other than a famous person raises money, it will be a little money and
it will not be able to help disaster areas. However, if all of the
population in Japan raises one yen, the disaster areas will receive one
hundred million yen which is about one million dollars. These areas
cannot be rebuilt with one hundred million yen, however this is the
idea if everyone raises only one yen. If each of them raises one
hundred or one thousand yen, the sum of money can be a hundred times or
a thousand times more. Thus, people’s kindness and collaboration will be important.
Third, sharing information is one of the most important things to help
the disaster areas and victims. This is because the important thing to
live in the disaster area is to recognize correct information. For
example, on Facebook, an important piece of information is shared. It
says that anyone who cannot have water can come and is able to get his
water which gushes from his rice field. This information is shared over
twenty million times on Facebook. Therefore, many people in Kumamoto
could know the information and were able to get water. However, there
is some wrong information too. So if people share
information, they have to value that the information is correct.
In conclusion, people have to collaborate when a disaster happens. This
is because they ration supplies to the disaster victims, raise money
and share so much information on the Internet. When people are able to
collaborate with others, things which cannot be done as an individual
person will be able to be done. Therefore, people have to collaborate
with others.
Winning Essay University and
Adult Education
Ekaterina Puzankova, New York Language Center-Jackson Heights, Queens, NY
Teacher: AJ Gonzales
Advantages of working in a group
Some people prefer to work alone, while others are in favor of a group
work. Both approaches have their upsides and drawbacks. However, as far
as I am concerned, working in groups is more beneficial for people,
because it helps to achieve more far-reaching result, broaden their
knowledge, learn how to cooperate and save an ample of time.
To begin with, group of students can reach a better result, because a
wider range of knowledge. Several people can contribute more to a
project than one individual due to diversity of ideas and skills. A
team has the opportunity to look at the picture from different
perspectives, while by working alone you are able to make decisions
based only on your own opinion and your possibilities are limited.
Hence, the group has higher potential than one person and can achieve
greater result.
Secondly, students can learn from each other while working together.
During the process group members share their views and experiences. For
instance, in my TOEFL class working in groups is commonplace. Every
time I work with other students I expand my vocabulary. By working
together we come up with at least ten different synonyms for an English
word verse to one or two meanings that I know. In addition, I learn
many interesting things about other cultures due to diverse backgrounds
of my classmates. Therefore, group work helps students to broaden their
knowledge.
In addition, working in a team develops some necessary skills such as
the ability to cooperate. Through variety of difficulties that students
face while working in the group, they learn how to compromise, resolve
arguments and respect each other. Even though opinions may vary among
group members, they have to come to a general agreement that would be
somewhat satisfactory for all participants. From my point of view, this
skill is especially important, because all prime aspects of life
such as family, business, religion and so forth require an effective
cooperation. Thus, the ability to cooperate is a rudimentary skill for
every individual, and work group helps to improve it.
Finally, because of the number of people involved a group can
accomplish work faster than if it would have been done by one
individual. When working alone you have to do a whole project by
yourself. In contrast, group members can split the responsibilities
among each other and save a great deal of time. Moreover, group members
can cover each other’s weaknesses, and the right matching of multiple
talents for specific purposes can significantly increase the efficiency
of the group. Because all of those factors, a group works more quickly
than one person.
In conclusion, I strongly believe that working in a group is an
essential life experience. Indeed life in general is a team sport and
in the process of working in a group you learn how to play it properly.
By cooperating we learn how to live in society. By improving of result
and productivity we increase our chances to succeed in life.
Winning Digital Storytelling Grades 4-5
Meil Day Hter, Sailber Say, Lamin Taryar, International School 45, Buffalo, NY
Teachers: Elena Dokshansky and Leslie Duggleby
Title: Collaboration NYS TESOL
Winning Digital Storytelling University and
Adult Education
Luis Arrufat, Sonia Dehdouh, Daniel Figueroa, Sonia Gjemi, Shoji Kaido,
Thair Shamoon, Kim Tuyen, and Juan David Velez, New York Language
Center, New York, NY
Teacher: Emily Clymer
Title: Adv. Collaboration NYLC
THANK YOU
Thank you to all the teachers and students who participated in the 11th
Annual NYS TESOL Student Contest! We received a wonderful collection of
essays and digital stories from students across the state! Your
dedication to your students is evident to us and we applaud the efforts
of your students. You are all winners to us!
Emma Barattin- New York Language Center
Stephany Bonura- Stony Brook University
Lori Dotterer-Jamesville Dewitt High School
Melissa Feldman-SUNY New Paltz
Melinda Hummel- New York Language Center
Kelly Lehmann- Niskayuna High School
Anna MacLachlan- Drew University
Mary Marshall- Morse Elementary School
James Philips- SUNY New Paltz
Sister Alexandria Wolochuk- Molloy College
Winners were honored at our 46th NYS TESOL Annual Conference in White Plains, New York. For more information about NYS TESOL, please visit our homepage at www.nystesol.org
Winners from Past Years
10th Annual, 2015
Theme: "Technology gives us power, but it does not and cannot tell us
how to use that power. Thanks to technology, we can instantly
communicate across the world, but it still doesn't help us know what to
say."
--Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks (1948-)
9th Annual, 2014
Theme:
"A good head and good heart are always a formidable combination. But
when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something
very special." --Nelson Mandela
8th Annual, 2013
Theme: "Be the change you want to see in the world" -Gandhi
7th Annual, 2012
Theme: "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." -Eleanor Roosevelt
6th Annual, 2011
Theme: How has your community helped you learn English?
5th Annual, 2010
Theme: A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
4th Annual, 2009
Theme: What aspects of American culture do you find to be different from your culture?
3rd Annual, 2008
Theme: What aspects of American culture do you find to be different from your culture?
2nd Annual, 2007
Theme: My Growth as an English Language Learner
1st Annual, 2006
Theme: A famous Chinese Proverb states, “A teacher can open the door,
but the student must enter on their own.” How does this quotation
illustrate your experience learning English?