08 May ESSEX COUNTY EXECUTIVE DIVINCENZO ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF ANNUAL ESSEX COUNTY G’ART’BAGE CONTEST
Published on May 8, 2024
Roseland, NJ – Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. presented awards to the winners in the Annual Essex County G’ART’bage Contest at the Essex County Environmental Center. Winners were awarded in four youth categories.
“The g’ART’bage Contest at the Essex County Environmental Center was an opportunity for students to creatively take single-use plastics and other waste items and turn them into exciting art. We hope the projects helped to create discussion and highlight the concerning abundance of these waste items and to encourage positive change for the environment,” DiVincenzo said.
The artists, and the awards they received, are as follows:
Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 2:
- Grace Matteo from Verona received first place.
- Maysan Shellhammer and Maia Casile from Wyoming Elementary School in Millburn received second place.
- Nico Spatz from Verona received third place.
Grades 3 to 5:
- Noelle Schaller, Noelle Kim, Pia Moyer, Rhoda-Jane Taylor, Blythe Dehnad, Hazel Lagerstrom, Serena Coutinho and Anna Colledge from the Glen Ridge Girls Book Club received first place.
- Ursa Brondo from West Orange received second place.
- Layla Morales from East Hanover received third place.
Grades 6 to 8:
- Jules Cummings from the Essex Junior Academy in Fairfield received first place.
- Christopher Ramirez from Maria L. Varisco Rogers Charter School in Newark received second place.
- Louis Solivan, Sebastian Valentine and Dylan Espinoza from Maria L. Varisco Rogers Charter School in Newark received third place.
Grades 9 to 12:
- Jayson Mendoza, Yadira Perez-Zacapa, Aaliyah Rodriguez, Lorvenson Tou Puissant, Jesus Torres-Valdez, Robert Stokley, Charles Spruill, Tabiya Holloway and Sharlenys Hurtado from the Essex Campus Academy in Fairfield received first place.
The Essex County g’ART’bage Contest was sponsored by the Essex County Environmental Center. Projects were required to withstand the elements as they were showcased in an outdoor display in the Essex County Environmental Center during the week of Earth Day.
The Essex County Park System was created in 1895 and is the first county park system established in the United States. The Park System consists of more than 6,000 acres and has 23 parks, five reservations, an environmental center, a zoo, Treetop Adventure Course, ice skating rink, roller skating rink, three public golf courses, two miniature golf courses, golf driving range, six off-leash dog facilities, a castle and the Presby Memorial Iris Gardens.