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Friday, June 8, 2018
Vol. 78, No. 23
Local students flex political muscles for candidates
HONORING JUDY JACOBS
BY GARY SIMEONE
The Syosset School District recently dedicated the library at Balis Elementary School to the late Nassau County Legislator Judy Jacobs. Above, Baylis Elementary School Principal Lisa Greiner joins members of the school’s Student Council in unveiling a plaque in honor of Leg. Jacobs.
Incident causes lockdown at Syosset HS
Ilya Yurchenko
Syosset High School was placed on lockdown on Tuesday, May 29th after a Medford man attempted to enter the school while carrying a large piece of luggage. According to Nassau County Police, Ilya Yurchenko, 19, of Medford, approached the main entrance of Syosset High School and attempted to gain entry at 4:15pm. Police say he was carrying a large black piece of luggage and was denied entry. According to police, Yurchenko placed the bag on the side of
the school and went in through the gym entrance. The school was put on lockdown by staff for precautionary reasons and the police were called. Upon police arrival, Yurchenko was located and placed under arrest without incident. The lockdown was lifted after the luggage was deemed not dangerous. Yurchenko was taken to a local hospital for evaluation. He was charged with Criminal Trespass 3rd Degree.
When County Legislator Josh Lafazan was on the campaign trail in 2017, he had a lot of help from a dedicated group of student interns. After his recent election, one of those interns took the initiative to start an organization called ‘Move the Future,’ which helps motivate internship programs on the Democratic Party line. “Politics was all new for me when I began working with Josh, and I thought it was such an incredible program,” said Sophie Blumenthal, founder of Move the Future. “During the internship, I gained more knowledge of the political process and made a lot of new friends in the process.” Blumenthal, who is a freshman at North Shore High School, said that the two main goals of her program are to get Democratic candidates elected to office and to get students involved in politics. “Move the Future offers a few basic resources to interns involved in political campaigns, including helping them learn to make phone calls, send letters to editors, and canvass area
neighborhoods. Anything to help get their Democratic candidate elected.” Kieran Kelly, a freshman at Syosset High School, was one of nearly 100 interns who helped get Lafazan elected by a twelve-point margin over incumbent Donald MacKenzie. “The whole internship program was such an inspiring experience and so different than what I had seen and heard before,” said Kelly. “The entire campaign was basically made up of students aged 15-16.” He said that his goal with Move the Future is to replicate the success he had with Josh’s campaign to other democrats nationally. “I would like to help other internship programs with their campaigns and give them the necessary resources to help get their candidate elected,” said Kelly. Move the Future currently has 18 other students scattered throughout Long Island helping 13 Democratic campaigns nationwide. More information about the organization can be found on their website, www. MovetheFuture.co
Alumni return to share lessons on life PAGE 6 Artistic Olympians take multiple awards PAGE 18