Brewster Seventh Graders Attend Leadership Conference in Valhalla

Eight seventh graders represented Henry H. Wells Middle School and the Brewster Central School district at the Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center’s Fourth Annual Human Rights Institute for Middle School Student Leaders at New York Medical School in Valhalla.

The daylong conference included approximately 100 students from twelve invited middle schools in Westchester and Fairfield counties. It incorporated various presentations and workshops with the themes “How to Be an Upstander” and “Respecting the Individual” to focus on confronting prejudice and discrimination as well as bullying prevention and was part of a larger three-day institute.

According to the Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center, the goal of the event was to “lay the foundation for encouraging students to be upstanders rather than bystanders.”
“It’s a nice opportunity for them to collaborate with other students from other schools,” said chaperone and co-advisor of the Leadership Club, Marisa Gargano. “And in January, they’ll have a chance to teach sixth graders what they learned during workshops in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.”

Students in attendance included Evelyn Dodge, Riya Gupta, Keira Golash, Ryan Williams, Kevin Perez Molina, Jarrid Brygmann, Sam Whitney, and Manaco Pillai. They were selected by teachers and their guidance counselor.