SIMSBURY BANK PROUDLY SPONSORS SENATOR WITKOS’S CELEBRATION OF LOCAL STUDENT WRITERS

Article as it appeared in the Hartford Courant

Sen. Witkos and Simsbury Bank present awards to each student winner (BACK ROW, left to right: Ken Sklodosky, Simsbury Bank Vice President; Senator Witkos; Jocelyn Mitchell, Simsbury Bank Senior Vice President. FRONT ROW, left to right: Lucy Lyttle, Ian Costello, Eric Winkler, Mary McElroy, Aeri Ko, Emily Markelon)

SIMSBURY, CT. – May 13, 2015 – Senator Kevin Witkos (R-8) recognized six Simsbury students as winners of their school essay contest sponsored by Simsbury Bank. The winning students, sixth graders from three local schools, were presented with citations from Senator Witkos during an award ceremony at the Simsbury Branch of Simsbury Bank on, May 4, 2015.

The winning students wrote essays in response to the question: “Describe the American Melting Pot as it relates to immigration.” Responses discussed many topics including changes in how immigrants enter the United States today as compared to a century ago. A winner and runner-up were selected from each participating school: Saint Mary’s School, Tootin’ Hills Elementary School and Central Elementary School.

Senator Witkos congratulates winner Aeri Ko, from Central Elementary School, and her family who immigrated to the United States 6 years ago.

Sen. Witkos congratulates Mary McElroy, a 6th grade student from St. Mary’s School.

“By holding this contest, I wanted students to seriously think about the impact of immigration on American history,” said Sen. Witkos. “Our nation was built by people who took risks and moved their entire families to a new world. Over time, our nation became a melting pot of different cultures. That melting pot, shapes who we are as a nation today and will continue to change and shape the future of our nation as well.”

“The students clearly put in a great deal of time and thought into their work. They have demonstrated their awareness of current issues and have articulately expressed their understanding of how immigrants continue to keep our society the dynamic one that it is. Simsbury Bank is proud to have again sponsored and hosted the essay contest this year. As a community bank, it is our pleasure to take the opportunity to recognize their outstanding achievements,” said Ken Sklodosky, Vice President and Senior Market Manager of the Simsbury branch of Simsbury Bank.
The winning essay writers were:

St. Mary School
Winner: Mary McElroy
Runner up: Erik Winkler

Tootin’ Hills Elementary School
Winner: Lucy Lyttle
Runner up: Ian Costello

Central Elementary School
Winner: Aeri Ko
Runner up: Emily Markelon

Simsbury Bank is an independent, community bank for consumers and businesses based in Connecticut. Simsbury Bank Home Loans is a division of Simsbury Bank serving the home financing needs of consumers throughout Southern New England. Simsbury Bank is wholly-owned by publicly traded SBT Bancorp, Inc., whose stock is traded on the OTCQX marketplace under the ticker symbol of SBTB. For more information, visit www.simsburybank.com.