Community Corner
Community Leaders Commit to Listening to Youth at 'Speak Out' Event
Twelve panelists agreed to attend the event on March 1.
Organizers of the Teen Speak Out event at Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor, The Youth Resource Center of Sag Harbor, The Sag Harbor Youth Committee and The Sag Harbor Coalition, announced they have had a remarkable response to their request for participation on its “community panel”.
Committing to representing their constituencies and their areas of expertise are:
- Bay Street Theater executive director, Tracy Mitchell
- East Hampton Town director of human services, Diane Patrizio
- John Jermain Memorial Library director, Cathy Creedon
- Mashashimuet Park board president, Gregg Schiavoni
- New York State assemblyman Fred Thiele
- Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce president, Lisa Field
- Sag Harbor Express co-publisher, Kathryn (Georgie) Menu
- Sag Harbor Police Department chief, Tom Fabiano
- Sag Harbor Village mayor, Brian Gilbride
- Southampton Town Youth Bureau director, Nancy Lynott
- Suffolk County legislator, Jay Schneiderman.
The Sag Harbor School District representative will be either superintendent Katy Graves or Pierson principal Jeff Nichols.
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The Speak Out is scheduled for Sunday, March 1 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Pierson graduate and Bridgehampton School District Athletic Director Eric Bramoff will serve as the event’s master of ceremonies.
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The Speak Out is intended to let Sag Harbor teens be heard, to allow them to say what they like about growing up here and what they’d like to see available to them.
The Speak Out is designed for young people in eighth grade and up.
It is a teen-only event; parents will not be invited into the theater.
“We have a wide-cross section of our community’s leadership turning out to hear what the kids have to say. It’s a unique opportunity for the kids that come,” Coalition board member, Benito Vilá said. “They’ll be heard by elected officials who make a difference in local government–Brian, Fred and Jay–and by people who are catalysts in changing policy–Nancy, Diane and Georgie. We also have people who look out for our kids every day–in Tracy, Tom, Cathy and Gregg.”
According to Vilá , having the school district’s support, from both Graves and Nichols, and from Pierson’s student organizations, has been essential in building a “buzz” for this event amongst the kids.
“Having Eric on hand with a microphone will make sure the kids ‘get into’ speaking out; his enthusiasm for kids having a lot to do, and for saying what they need, is off the charts,” she said.
Speak Out organizers have reached out to Pierson’s International Baccalaureate candidates and National Honor Society members, the latter group creating an online questionnaire for students in grades 8 through 12.
Picking up on news of the event, The Pierson Press, Pierson’s school newspaper, is planning a feature for its latest online issue.
Youth Resource Center director Debbie Skinner, who supervises the Pierson after-school community room said, “Many students are starting to take notice of the upcoming event. Many are questioning, ‘What is a Speak Out’, while others are already developing possible questions in small groups, in preparation. I hear kids starting to talk about their transportation issues in a new way, just from knowing they’ll be able to address people who can make a difference.”
According to Skinner, after the school break, there’s additional outreach planned across the various Pierson student organizations, including the student council, the sports teams, the theater kids, the Robotics club, Quiz Bowl team, the Art club and Model UN.
They are hoping to get about 100 kids to ‘Speak Out.’
The Sag Harbor Youth Committee is helping to underwrite the costs associated with the Speak Out and The Youth Resource Center of Sag Harbor and The Sag Harbor Coalition are helping to organize the event.
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