2012 Long Island Youth Summit Brings Top High School Students to Work with Experts on Long Island’s Issues

 OAKDALE, NY – On March 9, 2012 two hundred high school students from all over Long Island assembled for the 2012 Long Island Youth Summit (LIYS) that took place at Dowling College in Oakdale, NY. The purpose of the Summit is to work with the brightest and most active high school students to find innovative solutions to socio-economic and socio-medical issues affecting Long Island. During the Summit students work with experts in the fields of medicine, government, civic activism, economics, and the environment to address such issues as bullying and violence, the dangers of social networking, the effects of poverty on health, pollution of the environment, the use of renewable energy, the shortage of alternative housing, cuts in public transportation, and the inequalities in high school education. This year the program of the Summit started with a keynote speech delivered by Michael Dowling, President and CEO of the North Shore LIJ Health System.

  Mr. Dowling emphasized the importance of leadership and civic activism in creating positive changes in local communities. “A future President of the United States may be in this room, a future Governor of the New York State may be in this room, a future president of a large health system may be in this room”, noted Mr. Dowling. Providing valuable advice to the future generation Dowling stressed the key points of leadership which included not being afraid of change, having a positive attitude, the need to have a vision, the importance of building bridges rather than walls, and the ability to influence others based on one’s vision and attitudes rather than the power of one’s institutional title. Recognizing that future leaders are capable of making a difference in their communities right now, Dowling offered students who won the Summit’s awards an opportunity to obtain internships within the North Shore LIJ Health System. “If you stay engaged as a leader, you can make a difference in your community today”, he said. Dowling later noted the importance of the summit, “This is a transformative event for the youth who have been selected to be a part of this initiative. What we are really doing is identifying emerging leaders who will help improve the Long Island community,” he said.

 The students who participated in the Summit as finalists were selected from a pool of participants who submitted over 500 projects representing high schools from across Long Island. Student projects were scored based on the comprehensiveness of the coverage of an issue, creativity and original research, and innovative ideas and solutions presented in a project. “Our goal is to engage students as early as possible in creative thinking about issues that affect Long Island,” said Dr. Nathalia Rogers, director of the American Communities Institute at Dowling College. “We’re looking for the development of future leaders in our communities and the Summit is the first step in the process. The Summit is also a great example of a public/private partnership among organizations in the fields of health, education, business, and policy that brings together resources for the purpose of giving young people the tools that they will need to succeed in the future.”

  During the day of the Summit finalists and their teachers participated in ten topic workshops with thirty experts in the areas of business and economics, governance, housing and transportation, environment, socio-medical issues, race and education, and non-profit and civic activism. These workshops were: Bullying and Violence; Social Networking, the Effects of Poverty on Health, Protection of Water and Preservation of Open Space, Renewable Energy, Long Island Business and Economic Development, Governance and Activism, Transportation, Housing and Suburban Culture, and Race, Class, and Education. After completing their topic workshops, the participants convened for a joint final session and the awards ceremony where they presented their workshop recommendations.

For photos of the Youth Summit that recently took place, click here

The summary of the workshops can be found on the right.