Staples Seniors Yang, Mafilios Win Top Awards in 4-Way Poster Contest

Two talented Staples High School seniors, Timothy Yang and Madeline Mafilios, won first and second place, respectively, Saturday, June 18, in a poster contest sponsored by Westport Sunrise Rotary and the Westport Library.

Eleven posters were entered, ten created by Staples students in an honors Graphic Arts class taught by Paula Anderson, the other by two middle school students.

The Library is exhibiting the 11 posters entered in the contest near the Library’s McManus Room until the end of June.

Westport graphic designer Miggs Burroughs, author-blogger-Staples coach Dan Woog and Christ & Holy Trinity Pastor John Branson judged the posters. There was also an award winner chosen by the public.

Yang won Sunrise Rotary’s $250 first prize, while Mafilios took the second prize of $150. Eighth graders Nicho Ader of Coleytown Middle School and Louie Mason of Bedford Middle School took third place. Their poster was also picked for the People’s Choice Award by the public, and earned them a $100 prize.

In addition to their cash prizes, Burroughs will also offer two one-hour group sessions for the winners.

Three other Staples students — Erkina Sartbaeve, Nate Rosen and Kristyn Palumbo — were awarded certificates in a contest that drew 11 entrants in its initial year.

The theme of the contest was the Four Way Test, ethical guideposts embraced by the 1.2 million Rotarians worldwide: “Is it the TRUTH? Is it FAIR to all concerned? Will it build GOOD WILL and better FRIENDSHIPS? Will it be BENEFICAL to all concerned?”

Students were asked to create graphic representations of one or more of these tenets. The winners each captured all four in a single striking poster. Yang’s is a high colored geometric piece, Mafilios’ a depiction of hands together supporting the tenets of the test.

Yang will enroll this fall at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he will study Computer Science. Another of his signal achievements at Staples was participating in the team that won the FIRST Tech Challenge World championship robotics competition in St. Louis, MO last month.

Mafilios will attend Syracuse University’s School of Visual and Performing Arts , where she plans to major in Communications Design.

The Four Way Test is the core of what Rotary International is, and is a part of the message they spread in their hands-on and charitable community service projects.

One important outreach effort is to high school students, for whom Rotary clubs around the world sponsor annual Four Way Speech contests. Students are invited to write and present an original five minute speech applying the Four Way Test to a personal, local or societal issue. receive financial awards and can progress through multiple levels of competition.

Sunrise Rotary and its sister club, Westport Rotary, introduced the speech contest last year, saw it gain more contestants this year, and look toward continued growth for what is an increasingly timely topic.

The poster contest was created by Sunrise Rotary Club Youth Activities Co-Chair Dennis Wong to provide another means for students to express what the Four Way Test means to them. Wong hopes its initial success will make it a part of the Staples calendar.