CHS Students Travel To Albany to Share Ideas And Concerns

ALBANY, N.Y. — Commack High School student leaders impressed their state representatives and Education Department administrators with their command of issues affecting students and the district during a visit to the State Capitol on Tuesday.

Twenty-two CHS students from the Legislative Advocacy Committee accompanied superintendent Dr. Jordan Cox and his cabinet as well as Board of Education vice president Steven Hartman and committee co-chairs Eric Biagi and Dr. Jennifer Santorello on the advocacy trip to Albany.

The group met with state senators Mario Mattera and assemblymen Keith Brown and Michael Fitzpatrick. They then crossed Washington Avenue to meet with New York State Education Department deputy commissioners Angelique Johnson-Dingle and Jason Harmon as well as a dozen senior staff members from throughout the department.

The politicians and education officials both praised the students’ effective lobbying on behalf of the Commack School District with respect to policy and funding requests.

“We love the fact you’re becoming young advocates,” Assemblyman Brown told the students. “It keeps our finger on the pulse.”

Said Harmon, the Education Department’s P-12 operational support deputy commissioner: “This is critical for our work being able to hear from all of you.”

The students’ presentations focused on six general topics: school funding, environmental sustainability, safety, mental health, local governance and technology.

The specific proposals included requesting funding for a wellness room for mental health breaks, the expansion of security badges to younger students in the district to improve safety, and assistance developing educational opportunities at the six-acre farm that had been bequeathed to the district. The students also advocated for increased practical learning opportunities such as state-sponsored financial literacy coursework and the freedom to do internships as part of the academic coursework.

Students from the district annually have traveled to Albany for nearly a decade to meet their representatives as well as Education Department officials. In fact, current social studies teacher Crystal Curcio — one of the chaperones for Tuesday’s trip — had visited Albany as a CHS student leader several years ago.

The officials clearly listened. Johnson-Dingle and Harmon took copious notes and pledged to stay in touch with the students to get further feedback as the state looks to reexamine how students experience school.