Students at Seneca had the opportunity to meet Assemblyman Graf and his chief of staff and Sachem alum, Dave Smith. The two period assembly for all seventh graders was the result of a collaboration between the Student Government and the social studies department.
The day began with a “meet and greet” sponsored by Student Government. Advisors Liz Curry and Frank DeMeo, who supplied a breakfast meeting for their officers and Assemblyman Graf and Mr. Smith. Staff members also came in to visit with the Assemblyman and the less formal venue opened the day.
Immediately following the breakfast, a formal assembly was presented to all seventh graders. This component of the visit was organized by the social studies and music departments and run by students in Mr. Kazmark’s class. Students stood as the seventh grade chorus sang a moving rendition of the National Anthem, led by Mrs. Dominick.
The mellifluous stylings of this acapella group set the tone for the assembly. The stage was set up with a panel of student interviewers seated across from Assemblyman Graf, and the student- prepared questions were projected in the auditorium for all students to view. Students were given the interview questions and were able to take notes during the interview to be a part of follow-up discussions in social studies classes.
The student panel of interviewers, Samantha Watson, Troy Karavias, Amir Gharbi, Kaitlin McDonald, and Dinubasri Kumariduraivan, worked tirelessly on their questions for the Assemblyman and deftly ran the assembly so that students could learn more about state government.
At the conclusion of the assembly, students were informally asked for their feedback and their responses were overwhelmingly positive. Students choose words like “relatable, committed, honest and inspirational” to describe Al Graf.
The take away from the assembly for Seneca students was that they can become involved in their community and that their local assemblyman represents part of the universal “we” in “We the People.”
Assemblyman Graf’s most profound advice for our seventh graders was that, “you can do anything that you put your mind to.”
