The Board of Regents and the New York State Archives have selected Walden Elementary School students Phoebe Phelps, Lindsey Howe, Kennedy Howe, Taylor Canto, Gary Russo, Katherine Bunora, James Bunora, Gabrielle Dickinson, Kyala Clegg, Tiara Woodard, Danielle Zaleski, Cindy Connoly, Rebecca Penney, Erin Pike, Courtney Bode, Alissa Hassenplug, and Cara Masterson as the recipients of the 2006 Laura and Robert Chodos Award for Excellence in Student Research Using Historical Records, Grades 4-5 for their entry Walden-Yesterday and Today.
This award is named for Regent Emerita Laura Chodos and her husband Dr. Robert Chodos, who created an endowment for the award as a way to encourage the educational uses of historical records.
The same students, collectively known as the Walden History Group, were also selected as the recipients of the 2006 Regents Award of Distinction for Student Research. Established in 2002 as an initiative of Regent Saul B. Cohen and other Board members, the award recognizes a student or group of students in New York State who have used historical records in a project that has a significant educational impact on their community.
Framed certificates and a cash gift will be presented to the Walden History Group at a luncheon ceremony at the State Education Department in Albany on October 23, 2006. The students' teacher, Nancy Phelps, will also be recognized at the luncheon.
Beginning with a handwritten section of the 1900 U.S. Census for Walden, New York, provided by the Village of Walden's Historian's Office, the Walden History Group proceeded to gather documents from the town, the Josephine Louise Public Library, and from present and former community members. The final product, Walden-Yesterday and Today, is a scrap book and essays containing an extensive collection of original material with analysis and interpretations done by the students. By modeling their writing on a journal from the past, the students have created new documents for a future understanding of their town.
The annual Archives Awards program recognizes outstanding efforts in archives and records management work in New York State by a broad range of individuals and organizations. A complete list of this year's award recipients follows:
William Hoyt Advocacy Award
Archivists Roundtable of Metropolitan New York
Excellence in Research Using the Holdings of the State Archives
Timothy J. Gilfoyle, Department of History, Loyola University, Chicago
Debra E. Bernhardt Award for Excellence in Documenting New York’s
History
The Rochester Museum and Science Center and the Latino Alliance
Program Excellence in a Historical Records Repository
Huguenot Historical Society, New Paltz, New York
William H. Kelly Award for Excellence in Local Government Archival
Program Development
Saratoga County
Cheryl Steinbach Award for Excellence in Local Government Records Management
Town of Cheektowaga
Excellence in State Agency Records Management
New York State Emergency Management Office
Bruce W. Dearstyne Educator Award for Excellence in the Educational
Use of Local Government Records
Susan Stessin-Cohn, Ulster County
Laura and Robert Chodos Award for Excellence in Student Research Using
Historical Records, Grades 4-5 and The Regents Award of Distinction for Student
Research
The Walden History Group, Walden Elementary School, Walden. Educator: Nancy
Phelps
Laura and Robert Chodos Award for Excellence in Student Research Using
Historical Records, Grades 6-8
Edward Bugniazet and Nicholas LaSorsa, Windward School, White Plains. Educators:
Marjorie R. Gleit and John Manganiello
Laura and Robert Chodos Award for Excellence in Student Research Using
Historical Records, Grades 9-12
Lauren Koenig, tenth grader at Solomon Schechter High School, Glen Cove. Educator:
Dr. Linda Rubino