Councilman Paul Vallone introduced last week a group of high school students that will be working in his office during the second year of his Educational Ambassador Program.
“I couldn’t be prouder of my student ambassadors and all the work they’ve accomplished in the first year,” Vallone said. “They played such an important role in supporting every aspect of the work our office does and I look forward to seeing our new group achieve their great potential.”
There are nine students participating this year from three different high schools. Ambassadors Abbas Husain, Hongju Choi, Kean Gibbons and Jennifer Kim are from Bayside High School; Erika Donis, Rawlanda Hinds and David Legunsa attend World Journalism Preparatory School; and Daniel Bosko and Josh Santis study at Holy Cross High School.
The inaugural year of the student ambassador program saw teens experiencing different aspects of a city council member’s responsibilities through the expanded program in Vallone’s office.
The first student ambassadors played a critical role in organizing a toy drive for Saint Mary’s Hospital for Children and helping to put on the Holiday Parade & Winter Festival on Bell Boulevard. Student ambassadors also had an integral part in the participatory budgeting process by spreading awareness about the process and staffing multiple voting sites.
Thanks to students’ efforts to increase the visibility of participatory budgeting, Vallone noted, District 19 had a 2015 voter turnout of over 1,000 residents to award funds for locally developed capital projects.
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