Out of the Mouths…
by Dr. Carole G. Hankin with Randi T. Sachs
A Congressional redistricting brought in a new (to us) Representative
who promises to be a strong supporter of our schools and our
community. I had the pleasure of meeting him recently and seeing
our students engaged in lively discussion with this national
decision maker.
Congressman Steven Israel came to
visit Syosset Schools, and it was clear that he felt right
at home. “I make it a
point to be in a school in my constituency at least once a
week,” he said, “so I hope to be here a lot.” The
Congressman made it very clear that he believed that keeping
in touch with our children is a great way to be in touch with
the people he represents in Congress.
We invited the eighth graders from
both of Syosset’s
middle schools and filled the auditorium with the district’s
future graduating class of 2007. To establish a rapport with
the students he began by asking them very simple, basic questions
about our government. They soon got on the topic of Congress’s
role in upholding the Constitution and to the amazement of
Congressman Israel, one of our students came up on stage and
recited the preamble to the Constitution from memory. It was
then that he got a true understanding of the students he was
talking to, even though they were just 13 and 14 years old.
The students continued to impress him when he opened the floor
to questions. They wanted to know about the situation between
U.S. and Iraq, how the question of war would be resolved, and
what the Congressman believed would be the outcome of such
an action. Hands were waving throughout the large room, and
the students called upon posed questions that demonstrated
they had given the issues a great deal of thought. Time was
up too quickly to answer all the questions and the Congressman
asked if he could return and perhaps meet with a smaller group
of interested students and continue the discussion.
Throughout the day, students continued
talking about the issues that had surfaced that morning,
and the principals were approached by many students requesting
to be part of the “smaller
group of interested students.”
Personalizing government by introducing students to elected
officials shows the students that they are people struggling
with weighty decisions that will have a long-reaching effect
is important in teaching our children to care about their government.
The students in Syosset are very fortunate to have a Board
of Education and school administrators, faculty, and parents
who recognize this and foster a school environment that enables
them the opportunity to meet people like Congressman Israel,
who bring alive the lessons they learn in the classroom.#
