Elmont High School students honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"It made my day just listening to them speak. It's nice to know that younger children respect and understand Dr. King's legacy"”

David Delva

Elmont Memorial High School students honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy by participating in various service projects last month.

Gabrielle Gutierrez is the president of Elmont Memorial’s Students Against Destructive Decisions chapter and is ranked third in the graduating class of 2015. David Delva is a co-vice president of the school’s Model U.N., vice president of the Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society, and ranked in the top 5 percent of the senior class. Ashley Simon is the valedictorian of the class as well as a member of Model U.N. and the president of the Tri-M Music Honor Society. Harold Ekeh is the salutatorian of the class of 2015 and a co-vice president of the Model U.N. He was also recently recognized as an Intel Science Talent Search semifinalist for his research on neurodegeneration. All four seniors were happy to serve others during MLK Weekend 2015.

They began the weekend on Jan. 16 with a presentation at Dutch Broadway Elementary School entitled, “Speaking Kindness in Honor of Dr. King’s Legacy.” They were honored guests at an assembly for students in grades three to six, honoring Dr. King.

Throughout the presentation, the seniors facilitated an interactive discussion about character, brotherhood and harmony. “I was so impressed with the students from Dutch Broadway,” said David. “It made my day just listening to them speak. It’s nice to know that younger children respect and understand Dr. King’s legacy.” The four seniors reminded the elementary school children that the King holiday isn’t just a day off from school, but is a day to give back to the community in any way one can. Mr. Aksionoff, the elementary school principal, and his administrative team were grateful to the Elmont students for their service.