Sewanhaka, Carey students take home writing awards

Stephanie Martinez, left, placed first in the Short Story category of the Irish Cultural Society’s writing contest. Daniel Sullivan, from left, clockwise, Patrick Grogan, Alyssa DiBello, Victoria Randall, Danielle Sorrentino and Paulemar Miot received honorable mentions for their writing submissions.

Courtesy Justin Mirsky and Christopher Schnepf

Several local students were recently named winners of the Irish Cultural Society’s annual writing contest. Nearly 250 Nassau County high school students competed, writing about the Titanic, which tragically sunk in 1912 when it collided with an iceberg on the Atlantic Ocean.

Students were asked to either conduct an interview with one of the Titanic’s Irish passengers and write a story, or write a piece relating to an encounter between two of the Titanic’s Irish passengers who met before the crash of ship and iceberg. Names of the Irish passengers aboard the ship in 1912 were sent to local schools and posted on their websites in January.

Thirty-eight prizes will be awarded this year, ranging from $250 to $30, on May 2 in Garden City. Winners were announced on April 17.

Stephanie Martinez, an Elmont resident and Sewanhaka High School student, placed first in the Short Story category, winning a $250 prize.

Patrick Grogran, from H. Frank Carey High School, received an honorable mention and a $40 prize for the same category. According to the school, Carey teacher Joanne Bergbom, who teaches a creative writing course, helped students conduct research for and guided their writing.

For the Interview category of the contest, four Carey students received an honorable mention, and $30 prize, including Victoria Randall, Danielle Sorrentino, Paulemar Miot and Alyssa DiBello. Daniel Sullivan, a New Hyde Park resident and Sewanhaka High School student, also received an honorable mention for the Interview category.

Sullivan said that he wrote a story about Thomas McCormack, a real passenger who was aboard the Titanic, who survived the tragedy. McCormack was working as a bartender in New Jersey, when he bought a ticket for the voyage. He had been visiting family in Ireland, and boarded the ship in hopes of returning home, to New Jersey, with his cousins John and Philip. John and Philip died during the ship’s sinking, however. Sullivan said he used a Titanic Encyclopedia for his research.

According to the Irish Society, all students who entered the contest will receive a Certificate of Merit and participating schools will receive a book on an Irish subject.

The Irish Cultural Society writing contest awards will be presented, and portions of winning entries read aloud, on May 2 at 7:30 p.m., at the Garden City Library, located at 60 7th Street in Garden City. The meeting is free of charge and open to the public.

For the past 28 years, the Irish Cultural Society, based in Garden City, has been sponsoring its annual writing contest — sponsored by the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick and the H.W. Wilson Foundation. For more information on the contest and local winners, visit the Irish Society’s website at www.irish-society.org.