This past Friday, December 2nd, a group of students from Mr. Greiss’ AP Gov class attended the Long Island Smart Growth Summit. This took place at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury. Attending with groups such as Vision Long Island, senators, mayors, and other important people, these students were involved in conversations regarding affordable housing, small businesses during COVID, downtown revitalization, and infrastructure investment. After attending the Youth Summit,  students were able to pick the next topic to go to, and many chose to attend the Employment Summit. They could talk to many people and gain vital connections to help them on their journeys. They learned a lot about topics such as how to start to make a change and what the current problems were in our area and how people were fighting to solve them. It was a fantastic experience to gain connections, new perspectives, and new knowledge/skills. Ending with an amazing lunch of chicken parm, these students excitedly spoke about how they were going to make a difference in their community. 

When I first heard about this field trip, my first thought was “this is perfect, I love talking to people!” And talk to people I did. I talked to so many amazing people. In the beginning, I found it a little boring. I had trouble staying interested in affordable housing. I also didn’t understand a lot of the terms that the panel was using. Talking with my peers though, I was relieved to find that I was not the only one that thought of this. I did get a lot more interested when the next panel started. Talking about the youth, it made me realize the different ways that I could start to make a change in my community. When it was over, I talked to a lot of people about how to start to do what I was thinking about. Getting their business cards, they told me to reach out and that they were excited to help! 

I decided to go over to the Employment panel and I’m glad I did. I asked the panel a lot of questions on how to help improve the communication between the staff at the school and the students as they have spoken about not only talking with their students and workers, but students of the high schools they have visited and worked with. I got so much advice and so many great ideas to present to the admin in the high school and the Board of Education. The audience and the panel responded to all of the students who asked questions and even approached us afterward to continue a conversation and give us business cards in order to keep in contact and help us further. I loved talking to them. Each and every one of them inspired me to work to make a difference in my community. 

At the end of the summit, we all met back in the main ballroom for lunch. It was probably the best chicken parm that I have had. I had an amazing conversation with Dr. Impagliazzo and Mr. Greiss about my experience and what I was looking forward to doing. This was such an amazing experience and I hope that more students are able to go in the future!

Gallery • 14 Photos