Thursday, October 1, 2026
On Jan. 10 the Long Island Ducks spent the morning with Daniel Dunlap and all of his classmates at Hewitt Elementary School. Daniel was the third of four winners in TD Bank’s annual “Take a Duck to Class” essay contest. As part of his prize for writing about “Why my community is important to me,” he received an assembly for all of the school’s second graders with the “Best Mascot on Long Island” — QuackerJack, and the “Best Long Island Duck” — Ray Navarrete.
The assembly began at 11 when Principal Liz Pryke congratulated Daniel for submitting his winning essay and then had him read it aloud to the entire class. TD Bank vice president and Rockville Centre branch manager Ryan Koutsogiannis presented Daniel with a $25 Visa gift card for the great essay.
QuackerJack was then introduced to a thunderous ovation before Ray spoke to all of the children about the importance of community, believing in yourself and never giving up on your dreams.
The party then moved back to Daniel’s classroom, where each student was given a gift bag full of goodies, courtesy of TD Bank, and treated to a special autograph session with QuackerJack and Ray. A host of media representatives covered the event and talked with Daniel and his classmates to capture the excitement.
Contestants in TD Bank’s “Take a Duck to Class” were able to pick up applications from local TD Bank locations and submit an essay of this year’s topic. Four winners were selected from the hundreds of essays received from all over Long Island, earning a visit from the Ducks, a gift card for the winner, and goodie bags for his or her classmates.
