Farmingville, NY – On April 23, Councilwoman Valerie M. Cartright was honored to serve as one of the distinguished judges at the final presentations of the 27th Annual Declamation Contest at the Stony Brook School. This upper school competition hosted by English Department Chair, Erik Johnson, drew a packed house to hear students compete in three categories.
This year’s winner in the Oratory Category was Gift Okwa, performing We Should All be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. The winner in the Humor Category was Ellie Johnson, performing Please Read Before Suing by Larry Doyle. Tina Luo won the Drama Category with her presentation of Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster by Sventlana Alexievich.
“All twelve finalists were immensely talented. The assignment and the chosen works were substantial and rigorous, “said Councilwoman Cartright. “The winning presentations were extremely impressive as were the student musicians who performed between sets,” she added.
The Stony Brook School is a private college preparatory and boarding school for boys and girls grades 7-12. For more information about Stony Brook programs, contact 631.941.1800 and their website.

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