RHS students attend leadership institute

On March 21-23, Ismael Bajaña Salguero and Jean Carlos Pulla Velecela represented Riverhead High School at the 25th Annual Angelo Del Toro Puerto Rican/Hispanic Youth Leadership Institute in Albany, NY. Over the course of three days, they participated in a variety of team building activities and workshops with 200 other outstanding Hispanic students from across New York State at no cost to the students or district.

The main goals of this institute are:

• To develop leadership skills in Latino/Hispanic Youth;
  
• To create opportunities for Latino/Hispanic students to interact with positive role models such as Puerto Rican/Latino elected officials, educators, and business leaders;
  
• To create partnerships and conversations among educators, business leaders and students, and
  
• To develop an in depth knowledge of the state legislative process.
  

The institute culminated with a mock assembly wherein the students sat in the seat of their assembly person and argued, based on their representative’s viewpoint, for or against a number of actual bills that are making their way through the assembly.

“We were debating bills that affect our community and especially the immigrant community,” shared Ismael. “One of the bills provided help to non-English speaking parents; a second bill was about implementing foreign language classes in elementary school. Another bill proposed getting NYS out of the ‘race to the top ‘ program. Yet another bill addressed racial profiling.”
Students are selected after a rigorous application process, including three training sessions in this case on Long Island before they can attend. Ismael and Jean interviewed local Assemblyman Anthony Palumbo before leaving for the assembly. The students are charged with voting in a manner advocated by the assembly person they are representing.

Ismael shares, “Let me say that it was an honor to represent not only Assemblyman Anthony Palumbo but to also represent the Riverhead and Latino community. It’s an experience that changed my point of view towards politics. I think everyone should do it. Angelo Del Toro, who created this institute, was a really wise man who knew the importance of youth to the future of this nation. When you go to through this experience you learn so much. You learn how to listen to your community, how to be a leader, how to take the first step towards change, and how to fight for progress and not regress.”

Students were able to meet and interact with various NYS assembly members including Phil Ramos (Assembly Dist. 6), Marcos Crespo (Assembly Dist. 85) and Speaker of the House Carl Heastie (Assembly Dist. 83).

The people that Ismael and Jean Carlos met were part of the experience. Ismael states, “I met very important people like Assemblyman Phil Ramos, who told us that anyone can be like them. He said, ‘You just need to stand up for what’s right.’ I also had the pleasure of meeting students from all over the state. Many of these students have amazing stories, different points of view, but by the end of the assembly, I saw that we were a family trying to work together for good. Politics, I didn’t know a bit of it. I was not interested in it. But after this amazing experience, my eyes have been opened and I see that it’s really important to get involved because ‘we the people’ are the future of this nation. Now, I can say that I want to get involved; I want to know what’s happening in my community; I want to start something, for good. I want to get to know the needs of the people and be the voice for those who are too afraid to speak, because that’s what leadership is all about. It’s not about being famous but about being remembered for the good things you give to others. When I got home from this trip, I felt like a totally new person–ready to do something to motivate others.”

“Ismael won a $750 scholarship that required an additional application process,” notes ESL teacher Claudette Garley Rottkamp, who acted as the chaperone during this event. “I was incredibly impressed with the professionalism and maturity of all the student participants. This is, as Ismael has so eloquently stated, an amazing experience for these young people.”

Source: Riverhead Central School District press release dated March 25, 2015.