‘Do you think the world is a safer place now?’

The Stern family congratulated the winners of the Andrew J. Stern Memorial Essay Contest. The family, standing from left are Andrew’s siblings Michael Stern and Lisa Burch; Andrew’s son, Danny, 18, his mother, Barbara, his daughter, Emma, 14 and his wife, Katie. Seated from left are essay winners Taylor Clarke, John Parenti and Joanna Ambrosio.

Mary Malloy/Herald

The winners of the fifth annual Andrew J. Stern Memorial Essay Contest were announced on Feb. 15 at the East Rockaway Board of Education’s meeting held in the high school auditorium. The theme of this year’s contest was a letter to President Barack Obama, and the question, “Do you think the world is a safer place now, and what would you do to make the world safer for people?”

Andrew Stern was a 1978 graduate of East Rockaway High School and attended Hofstra University. He went on to work in the financial district, and was working at Cantor Fitzgerald in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001 when the buildings were attacked by terrorists. He died that day, along with 3,000 others.

The Sterns started the essay contest with the goal of making sure that future generations don’t forget what happened that day.

“The tenth anniversary [of Sept. 11] was a milestone,“ said Stern’s sister, Lisa Burch. “For us, it was ten years without Andy … ten years of missed birthdays, soccer games and school plays. Many of the essayists this year were not even born, and some just have vague memories.” Burch attended the ceremony with her mother, Barbara, her brother, Michael, Stern’s widow, Katie, and their children Emma and Danny.

The essay contest winners were High school student Taylor Clarke, who wrote that small changes could have big results. “If I were given an opportunity to speak with President Obama, I would enforce more rules for cyber bullying,” she wrote. “… I believe if young people realized how hateful racism, bullying, hate crimes were … we could change our future generations.”

The winning essay on the Junior High School level was written by Joanna Ambrosio. John Parenti won on the elementary school level.

The three winners each received a certificate, a check for $100 and a copy of “My 9/11, One Man’s Journey through the unexpected events of Sept. 11, 2001,” a book of photos that were recently released by Richard Agudelo, a man who lived near the World Trade Center in 2001. Copies of the book were also donated by the Sterns to each of the schools’ libraries.