Editorial: A salute to the Island’s youth
Some young people went to work recently to help keep a symbol of the Island alive (literally) for everyone.
A group of Shelter Island High School seniors helped build and erect osprey stands where the magnificent fish hawks can build their nests and return to Shelter Island — the birds winter as far afield as the Caribbean — for years to come.
The young folks had help, and inspiration, from their teachers, Lynne Colligan and Chris Conrardy. Also pitching in were Kristina Lange and Aaron Virgin from Group for the East End, Riverhead Building Supply, which donated wood and fencing supplies, and Mashomack for locust tree wood.
But the time and labor were provided by the students, who could easily have been holed up on the couch with a cellphone or laptop, whiling away the hours.
Instead, they chose to give something back to their town.
As Julie Lane points out in her story, a small school on a small Island affords multiple opportunities from a wide range of activities for students to choose to participate in. We see that with the kids playing multiple sports and involved in the annual school musical, and even the elementary school children hitting the boards for their own play.
But besides sports and extracurricular activities, working for the community, such as building and raising the osprey nests, is a common thread woven into the students’ lives here. Each year the Shelter Island National Honor Society hosts “the Cardboard Campout” where kids spend the night outside on the school grounds to raise funds from donors for Habitat for Humanity. They then spend a day building alongside future homeowners.
Another recent example of the students helping the community was last Veterans Day when a group offered a helping hand to our senior citizens. On the morning of Veterans Day, members of the Shelter Island School National Honor Society (NHS) assembled for the ceremony at the Legion, prepared with rakes and tarps. They were given an address of a senior in need of a lawn clean-up but wanted to share their service with veterans as well.
And three high school girls attended a program to institute a voter registration drive among their peers, helping to ensure the Island will have engaged, informed citizens at an early age.
These are just a few of the works the students provide year round, and we salute them for all they give to Shelter Island.
