Garrison Students Take Top Prizes in Local History Contest
Seventh-grade students from the Garrison Middle School won first, second and third place in the 2012 Jean Saunders History Contest in December. First place went to the team of George Weed and Elijah DeRoche for their research on the sloop Clearwater. Eddie-Joe Barry was awarded second place for his research on Fort Clinton and third place went to Kaelin Martin for her research on the Bird & Bottle Inn.
In the contest, students research a local historical landmark (some aspect of history of Philipstown, Putnam County, or the Hudson Highlands), write an essay of 1000 words or less and create a visual or audio display to go along with their report. The purpose of the Jean Saunders History Contest is to increase student awareness and develop pride in the local history of Philipstown and Putnam County.
“The Jean Saunders Contest is a perfect example of project-based learning; an important focus of our curriculum,” explained Garrison School Principal Stephanie Impellittiere. “The students select a topic that inspires them; research it on their own; and work closely with experts in the community to learn about a significant part of our local history.”
The first place team of George Weed and Elijah DeRoche wrote their essay on how and why the Clearwater project began and as part of their research, were able to tour the ship and visit with Clearwater Captain, Nick Rogers and Education Director, Dave Conover.
“The Clearwater was launched by Pete Seeger to help clean up the Hudson River,” George said. “I chose to research Clearwater because I appreciate the Hudson and how much the quality of the water has improved…and will continue to improve.”
Elijah agreed: “I think the Clearwater has been successful in helping to save the Hudson River. Over half a million people have ridden on the Clearwater since its launch. People learn that they have to help keep the river clean.”
Second-place winner, Eddie-Joe Barry, focused his project on Fort Clinton at West Point and visited the fort twice while compiling his research.
“The first time I visited West Point, the security guard told me he had never heard of Fort Clinton,” Eddie-Joe said. “There are a lot of forts in our area that have been forgotten. I chose to write about Fort Clinton because I wanted to unveil the importance of these small forts.”
Fort Clinton at West Point was responsible for protecting the “Great Chain” that stretched across the Hudson River. The fort was originally called Fort Arnold after Benedict Arnold, but that the name was changed after Arnold betrayed the Continental Army and defected to the British Army.
Third-place winner, Kaelin Martin, grew up admiring the Bird & Bottle Inn and decided to make it the subject of her research project. Elaine Margolies, the owner of the Bird & Bottle Inn, met with Kaelin, shared the historical guest books with her, and offered her a tour of the building which was originally known as the Warren Tavern. In addition, Kaelin interviewed family members of the Inn’s previous owner and visited the Putnam Historical Museum to look through the books, old maps and records there.
“One of the many interesting things I learned about the Bird & Bottle Inn was that Emily Warren Roebling (married to Washington Roebling, a civil engineer who worked on the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge) used to stay at the inn when it was the Warren Tavern because it was a family business,” Kaelin explained. “I really enjoyed this project and learned so much about our local history.”
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.
