Clear Stream captures the Waldinger cup

Clear Stream Avenue school won this year’s Waldinger Cup. From left are children’s librarian Jaclyn Kunz, Principal John Singleton, Mayor Ed Fare, school librarian Carolyn Kaiser, Assistant Principal Yannie Chon and library Director Mamie Eng.

Courtesy Barbara DeGrace

Students at the Clear Stream Avenue School in Valley Stream District 30 were awarded the Henry J. Waldinger Library Cup for their summer reading on Oct. 13. They beat out runner-up, Wheeler Avenue School in District 13, which had previously won the honor for the last four years.

Last year, Clear Stream came in second place. Winning the top spot was a sweet victory, said Principal John Singleton. “I vowed we would come back and take the cup,” he said.

The library has been giving out the trophy for five years. Named after Henry J. Waldinger, the village’s first mayor — for whom the library in named — the award is given to the Valley Stream school that has the most participation in the library’s annual summer reading program.

This year, the more than 200 total participants read 4,618 books over the summer, said Jaclyn Kunz, the children’s librarian. The participants, who are divided into reading levels based on age, picked out their own books. They were also required to keep a reading log and write a report of each book. The theme was “One world, many stories.”

“Clear Stream pulled it out this year,” Kunz said. “They worked hard for it.”

Clear Stream edged out the competition, earning 611 points to Wheeler’s 474. A total of 134 Clear Stream students registered for the library program to 129 at Wheeler. Forest Road School, also in District 30, came in third place.

The number of Clear Stream students registering was up from 83 students last summer. Singleton chalked it up to the administrators campaigning for the program. “Our reading teachers and librarians did an all-call to the student body, asked them to join the reading club, and support literacy throughout the summer,” he said.

Mayor Ed Fare, who attended the award ceremony, recalled his days at Clear Stream, participating in the reading program. “I read ‘James and the Giant Peach,’” he said. He also recalled picking out a first-grade book, lower than his reading level, prompting the librarian at the time to ask him to pick another book in order to get his participation ribbon.

The Waldinger Cup will be on display in the school’s library this year, said Assistant Principal Yannie Chon.

Jennifer DiGaetano brought her 7-year-old daughter, Madeleine, a second-grade student at Clear Stream, to the ceremony. “She really wanted them to win since kindergarten,” DiGaetano said.

Madeleine added that her favorite books from the summer were the Judy Moody series by Megan McDonald.