Building their résumés close to home

The Village of Lawrence has some extra hands helping them this summer thanks to its expanded student intern program that offers college and high school students in the Five Towns municipality the opportunity to work in village hall.

The program began roughly five years ago in the courts department, as interns would sit in on trials and plea negotiations with former village justice Donald Buchalter. This year, Mayor Alex Edelman expanded the program to the tax/auditing and building departments. There are five interns.

“It’s important for students to get a better perspective how their local government works,” Edelman said. “This program gives them the opportunity to do different things within our local government. Local government is the government that is the closest to the people.” 

Levi Fingerer, an architecture student at New York Institute of Technology in Manhattan, began his internship with the building department roughly three weeks ago and disclosed that familial connections helped. “My family is friends with Mayor Edelman so that’s how I heard about the internship,” Fingerer said. “I knew right away that it would be a great opportunity.”

Fingerer, who is on track to graduate from NYIT in spring 2020, detailed a typical day of interning. “I get to village hall around 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. and I assist the building department throughout the day,” he said. “This includes reviewing building plans and even inspecting houses. I have a construction background, but it’s nice to get the building department’s perspective on how they handle their business.” 

Jacob Plaut, also a college student, is interning in the tax/auditing department until the fall semester at Molloy College in Rockville Centre gets under way. “It’s nice to be able to get hands-on experience with the village,” Plaut, an accountant student said. “I get to put the things I’ve learned in college into use in this internship.” Some of the tasks Plaut does include collecting taxes, entering the tax information into a computer and helping with payroll. 

Plaut is also set to graduate in spring 2020. While he’s undecided if he wants to pursue accounting after graduation, he’s enjoyed the experience he’s gained during the internship. “I’m not sure what I’m going to do after college, but I’m leaning towards public service,” he said. “The people I’m working with are super nice and I’m getting valuable experience that is not available everywhere.” Plaut’s mother, Tova, serves on the Lawrence Board of Education.

Lawrence Village Administrator Ron Goldman added that a program like this benefits all the people involved. “This program is an all-around good thing especially since Mayor Edelman has expanded it,” he said. “Other villages don’t have a program like this that is free and gives students the opportunity to work with their local government.”