(New York, NY--June 1, 2019) Judges from the United Nations International School (UNIS), the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations, and Northeast Council of Teachers of Japanese honored five High Tech High School students and two instructors at the 13th annual UNIS Haiku Contest Awards Assembly, announced Dr. Joseph Giammarella, Principal of High Tech.
Submissions for the 2019 Haiku Contest for students and their teachers in elementary, middle and high school for short poems written in English, Japanese, French, Arabic, Spanish, and Chinese, took place between November 2018 and March of this year. Students from all over the world participated in the contest. High Tech entered this contest in the English, Japanese, and French categories.
UNIS received approximately 1,100 poems from schools in the United States and around the world. From among the entries, judges selected 121 haikus for special recognition and had them displayed in the lobby of UNIS this June.
In the French Division, Union City resident Manuela Peralta earned First Place and North Bergen resident Diana Concepcion received Third Place. For English, Ngoc Le of Jersey City earned Honorable Mention. Additionally, the following students earned Honorable Mention in the Japanese Division: North Bergen resident Genesis Cevallos and Thomas Fienan of Bayonne.
In the Teachers’ Category in French, Dr. Laje Gashi received Honorable Mention.