E. Rockaway and Lynbrook students honored

Assemblyman Brian Curran and Congressman Anthony D’Esposito recognized a group of students from throughout Curran’s assembly district, as they were honored for their contributions to the community.

In total, 19 young leaders were honored last Sunday for giving back to their communities and truly embodying what it means to be a leader. Those who were recognized were Nora Kane and Caiden Lung from Lynbrook; and Everette Gamache and Claire Harvey from East Rockaway.

“I was really excited about this and I think it’s a huge honor that this is something that I get to be a part of,” Harvey, eighth grade student at East Rockaway Jr./Sr. High School, said. “Initially, my main reaction was just pure shock because I was so surprised that my superintendent had nominated me for this, but I was also so grateful that I got to be the one that he chose for it.”

Some of the reasons why Harvey was nominated for this recognition by Curran and D’Esposito was because of her involvement in some of the student community events at the East Rockaway Public Library. Some of those events included a haunted house for young kids and the tree lighting.

“I helped volunteer at a lot of those events, where I got to meet a bunch of really young, amazing kids and do fun things for them,” Harvey said.

Harvey also worked with her student council. She was part of an initiative to make Halloween safe by hosting festivities at the high school, where parents were allowed to bring their children and trick or treat through the hallway as a safe alternative to Halloween.

“I also work with the Hewlett Point Yacht Club and help out with a lot of their parties for young children,” Harvey said. “I’m also volunteering with St. Raymond’s and we’re giving back to the community by making different baskets that are given to homeless shelters.”

At St. Raymond’s Church in East Rockaway, Harvey teaches the younger students and makes a lasting, positive impression on them. Harvey believes that it’s really important to give back to the community because the community is always there to help those in need.

“I think it’s really important that we’re able to give back to them and make sure that everything that they were able to do for us, we’re able to do for them,” Harvey said.

Lung, Lynbrook High School senior, said that he felt like all of his hard work paid off after being honored at Sunday’s event. He said that this event made him feel special inside and realize how thankful he is for everyone who helped him get to this point.

Lung is currently vice president of the National Honor Society and he helped organize various fundraisers throughout the year. He also tutors science and math and spends countless hours helping students at the high school in those subjects. In addition to that, he is a lacrosse player, who helps young athletes develop their passion of that sport.

“I have always helped out with the younger teams,” Lung said. “There’s something called the Lynbrook Lacrosse Camp that runs every summer and I always help out at that.

Lung said that it is extremely important to help out the community and people in need. He noted that the community is there for you with all the resources you need and in order to pay that back, you have to help the community in any way that you can.

“And overall, it’s just a nice thing to do,” Lung said. “It helps you with your morals, it helps you build character, discipline so I think it’s extremely important and it really shows a lot about who you are as a person.”

Kane, senior at Lynbrook High School, said that she was proud of Lung, her close friend, and was happy to also be honored at the event. The main community involvement that Kane does is peer tutoring. She is one of the few students in her school that are willing or able to tutor AP physics.

“I have upwards of eight kids at a time that I am tutoring,” Kane said.

Also, Kane was honored because she qualified for the International Science and Engineering Fair last month after she won the New York State Fair. Since being a freshman, Kane was involved with the Math Honor Society and she is now currently the president of the club.

“I am studying physics at Caltech this fall,” Kane said.” And I am hoping to get involved with the local students there and possibly continue tutoring for local high school or middle school students in that community.”

Kane said that she wouldn’t be where she is today without the help of her community. She said that the mentors in her science research classes inspired her to be more involved in the Lynbrook community. She hopes to take this inspiration with her to California and continue to help others.