YPLF Fellow James Chenevert's Stamp Exhibit Wins Grand Award
By Alexander Haimann, Collections Specialist
Last August, James Chenevert (above center), Melissa Stanton (above left) and Jimmy Tian (above right) began their year-long projects as part of their involvement in the inaugural year of the American Philatelic Society's Young Philatelic Leaders Fellowship. These three YPLF Fellows are each working on different projects related to a specific track within the Fellowship. Due to the generous support of the United States Stamp Society, Melissa Stanton is the 2009-2010 United States Stamp Society YPLF Fellow.
Over this past weekend, YPLF Fellow James Chenevert entered his exhibit Security Features of United States Postage Stamps 1974-2009 into competition at the World Series of Philately Stamp Show in Boxborough, Massachusetts. It was less than nine months ago that James began his year-long Fellowship and selected the Exhibitor Track. Under the guidance of his YPLF Mentor, Jeffrey Shapiro, James collected the necessary material, conducted research, designed his pages, mounted the exhibit and entered it into competition.
As the Founder & Chair of the Young Philatelic Leaders Fellow and on behalf of APS Director of Education Gretchen Moody & APS Executive Director Ken Martin, it is my great honor to congratulate James on winning a Gold Medal and the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors ("AAPE") Youth Grand Award for his exhibit at the Boxborough WSP Show. This was the first time James had competitively shown this exhibit.
Everyone supports the principle of growing the stamp hobby and ensuring its future by finding and nurturing young collectors. However, the Young Philatelic Leaders Fellowship (YPLF) goes an important step further, encouraging development of the next generation of stamp hobby leaders — young men and women who will mature into the writers and collectors, exhibitors and dealers, who will hold high the banner of philately tomorrow and for many years to come.
For years, many of the brightest and most energetic young collectors have found that, while they are welcomed into philately and encouraged to begin, there is no ready way for them to enter into and learn on a long-term basis from the world of organized philately — very much an adult world, and one that can appear cold, unreceptive, and intimidating to young people. The YPLF exists to break down that wall — to enable young people who already have shown a sustained interest in stamp collecting to have an enriching and dynamic experience with a specific aspect of the stamp hobby, selected by them in partnership with a series of adult mentors.
Learn more about how you can support this important Youth Program.
About the Author
Alexander T. Haimann, Collections Specialist & Web Projects Developer at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum, collects and writes primarily about the stamps and postal history of the U.S. during the first one hundred years of stamp production (1847-1947). Additionally, he develops internet based education projects and exhibits for the National Postal Museum. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Stamp Dealers Association, the Chair of the American Philatelic Society’s Young Philatelic Leaders Fellowship and the publicist for the United State Philatelic Classics Society. His national and international society memberships include the American Philatelic Society, United States Stamp Society, Collectors Club of New York and the Royal Philatelic Society London.
