*as reported by the Jersey Journal
A lot of commuters' first train ride may be confusing, intimidating, and possibly scary. But for kindergartner Daniel Rodriguez it was filled with laughter and singing.
"This is the first time he's ever been on a train," said Scott Ladd, Assistant Director for PATH. "Nice occasion for his first train ride!"
The Hoboken Board of Education and PATH collaborated for the summer-themed contest after their successful ongoing Holiday Poster contest held in Jersey City. Twenty-five finalists were chosen out of more than 100 entries and hung on the wall at the Main Hall of the train terminal.
"We're very honored and grateful that PATH has offered the opportunity for students of the Hoboken public schools district to also participate and share their talents," Mayor Ravi Bhalla said.
The finalists varied between kindergarteners and eighth graders from four different Hoboken schools who were guided by art specialists in order to enhance their skills.
One winner was chosen from kindergarten to second, third to fifth, and sixth to eighth grade. Additionally, a grand-prize winner was chosen among the finalists.
The grand-prize winner will have their art displayed on the PATH trains. The second and third place winners will have theirs displayed at train station terminal locations to be named.
The winners are listed below with their name, grade, school, and title of their poster:
Daniel Rodriguez, kindergarten, Thomas G. Connors Elementary, "Pail on the Sand"
Laila Shapiro, 5th grade, Thomas G. Connors Elementary, "Busy Butterfly"
MacKenzie Wicks, 8th grade, Hoboken Middle School, "Sunset on the Horizon"
"I feel very confident about [the contest]," Wicks said. "I had a lot of fun creating my poster and I worked very hard on it."
All attendees were brought to the platform below for a special train ride after the winners' recognition. The train was designed with colorful Hawaiian leis that wrapped around the poles in the rail car where Shapiro's grand-prize winning poster was unveiled.
Shapiro says she liked the other participants' drawing so much that she didn't understand how her's won first place.
"I was confused why mine was in, like, the top three," she said. "I liked a lot of other peoples' a lot more."
PATH and the city of Hoboken hopes that this tradition will continue to move forward.