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2004

JANUARY 2003

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.#

 

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