New Rochelle Students Discuss National Issues, Offer Solutions

New Rochelle High School seniors discussed issues of national importance with each other and community leaders Tuesday at the annual Civics Week Symposium, sponsored by the New Rochelle Fund for Educational Excellence.

The fund's executive Director, Susan Weisman, said about 10 years ago, now County Clerk Tim Idoni got the idea that New Rochelle students should have the opportunity to learn about government. From that, the Civics Week was born.

"The students are not only really well prepared," she said, "but they all bring their own perspectives."

Twelfth-grade students in Advanced Placement Government and Advanced Placement Economics participated in the symposium.

The topic was "We the People: An Open Letter to the President." Students were asked to write an open letter to the president on a specific problem and take a position on how the country should deal with it.

During the symposium, a panel of community and civic leaders critiqued four selected essays. The topics were immigration, No Child Left Behind, campaign finance reform and the Occupy Wall Street movement.

The panel was comprised of New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson, Prof. Alex Eodice, NY1 host and CNN contributor Errol Louis and New York City Deputy Commissioner of Cultural Affairs Margaret Morton.

Idoni served as the moderator.

He said the students started off being a little shy.

"Each topic got better and better," Idoni said. "They know their stuff."

The students who presented essays were A.J. Barbaria, Ben Helfand, James Kelly, Gabby Krol and Julia Schwarz

Schwarz, 17, wrote her open letter about the Occupy Wall Street movement.

She said what the protesters are doing hasn't coalesced into any something that is tangible.

"The movement as it is now is not a movement," Schwarz said, but more of a cultural statement. It could become something more, she said, but time will tell.

The symposium, Schwarz said, allowed the students to flex their intellectual muscles and not just be something that is talked about in class.

"We can have interesting, intelligent discussions between peers," she said, "and conversations with professors."