Ducks pay visit to first essay contest winner of year

(Rocky Point, N.Y., Jan. 30, 2014) – On Thursday, the Long Island Ducks spent the morning with Elana Gold and her classmates at Joseph Edgar Elementary School. Hannah was one of four winners in the annual TD Bank “Take a Duck to Class” essay contest. Because of her excellent work, she received a special visit from TD Bank, QuackerJack and the manager of the back-to-back Atlantic League champion Ducks, Kevin Baez.

CLICK HERE to view a Facebook Photo Album from the event

The assembly kicked off in the gymnasium with Elana reading her essay aloud to the entire fifth grade after she was introduced to a loud applause. TD Bank representative then presented Elana with a $50 Visa gift card for being one of the winners and writing an outstanding essay. Long Island’s favorite mascot, QuackerJack, then was welcomed by the students with thunderous chants of his name. Finally, Kevin spoke to the students about the importance of studying hard in school, listening to your parents and also discussed his professional baseball career.

Following Kevin’s speech, Elana and her classmates received autographs from QJ and Kevin and had the chance to play some whiffle ball with both. Students got to take their best swing against the Ducks manager, some of which were hit so hard they nearly spun QuackerJack’s bill around. Finally, Elana’s classmates posed for pictures and were given a gift bag full of goodies, courtesy of TD Bank.

Contestants were able to pick up applications from local TD Bank locations this fall and submit an essay of 250 words or less on “Why my community is important to me.” Out of thousands of essays received from all over Long Island, four winners were selected. Each winner receives a visit from a member of the Ducks and Long Island’s most popular mascot, QuackerJack, along with a Visa gift card from TD Bank.

Here are the remaining winners in this year’s TD Bank “Take a Duck to Class” essay contest and when the Ducks will be visiting their school:

Jasmine Roldan – Fork Lane School (Hicksville, NY) – Friday, January 31 at 1:30 p.m.
Yashmita Logaraj – Pines Elementary School (Hauppauge, NY) – Monday, February 10 at 10:30 a.m.
Kaylee Bertolino – Boyle Road Elementary School (Port Jefferson Station, NY) – Thursday, February 13 at 9:00 a.m.

The Long Island Ducks are members of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and play their home games at Bethpage Ballpark. For further information, call (631) 940-DUCK or visit www.liducks.com.

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