Hackensack Student's Design Will Represent NJ At Annual White House Easter Egg Roll

A design created by one Hackensack High School student was chosen to represent New Jersey at the White House's 141th Annual Easter Egg Roll.

Hackensack High School student Ahmed El Gazzar's design, inset, will represent New Jersey at the White House's 141th Annual Easter Egg Roll. Above photo was taken in 1965.
Photo Credit: *INSET: NJDOE/White House Historical Association*

Cecilia Levine

04/18/2019 5:43 p.m.

Ahmed El Gazzar's design depicts the New Jersey state bird, the American goldfinch, against a white background. The piece will be on display at the April 22 event, hosted by First Lady Melania Trump on the South Lawn of the White House.

Following tradition, the U.S. Department of Education invited students nationally to design an egg reflective of their home state.

Designs had to be emblematic, including elements such as the state flower or state bird.

The Easter Egg Roll is one of longest running White House traditions and was made permanent by President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1878.

He legally permitted the local children to roll their prized Easter eggs on Capitol Hill the day after Easter, a tradition that actually had begun almost 50 years earlier under President James Madison and his wife Dolly.

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