Rockland fifth-grader recognized for DAR essay

Posted December 18, 2014 10:00 pm

Submitted by Libertyville Elementary School District 70

Board of Education President Maryann Ovassapian and Superintendent Dr. Guy Schumacher presented Rockland fifth-grader Kate Gerber with a plaque during a Monday night board meeting honoring her for an essay she wrote for the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Gerber entered an essay contest for the Ansel Brainerd Cook Chapter of the DAR this fall. Participants were asked to write about a journey through Ellis Island and how they would tell a cousin about their experience.

Gerber spent a couple of Saturday afternoons at the library researching and writing.

"According to the requirements, fifth-graders had a maximum of 600 words allotment," Schumacher told the board. "After much editing, Kate pared down her 850 words to a beautifully written 600-word essay, in addition to a bibliography. The character she wrote about, Amelia Hardmeyer, is an actual relative that her grandfather located in the records when visiting Ellis Island."

Gerber then read her essay in front of the Board of Education, her family and a standing-room-only audience.

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