Red Hook High School Student Council members earlier this school year took part in a statewide leadership conference in which they exchanged ideas with fellow students from 30 school districts, took part in workshops, engaged in a community service project, and listened to several nationally recognized speakers.
In all, 17 members of the school’s Student Council traveled to the Niagara Falls area for the 36th Annual New York State Council on Leadership and Student Activities Conference. That included junior Marina Kregel who, as a four-year member and secretary of the NYSCLSA, is heavily involved in the conference’s planning each year.
“It’s a really amazing experience,” Kregel, the Red Hook Student Council president, said. “I’ve worked with students from Brooklyn all the way to Niagara Falls and Buffalo. It’s amazing working with all these students; they all bring their own ideas and contribute their own skills.”
Kregel and Red Hook Student Council Vice President Marcello Reppucci were also given awards in recognition of their leadership.
The event, which this school year was held Nov. 23-25, is an opportunity for students from around the state to interact while gaining leadership skills. It’s almost entirely student-run, with committees that organize the workshops, activities and decorations, while adult advisers provide guidance and take the lead lining up speakers. Each student pays their own way to take part, though grants provided by the Red Hook Education Foundation, the PTSA and The Ascienzo Family Foundation covered transportation and fundraising helped offset the cost.
Among the workshops offered this year, Kregel helped facilitate one on civic engagement and advocacy.
“We wanted to equip students with the necessary skills to advocate for themselves,” she explained. “We thought it was important in our day and age to ensure students have these abilities.”
Junior Kaelyn Sepesi, Student Council treasurer, has been attending the conferences for the past four years, including past trips to Lake Placid – where students were able to skate in the ice rink that hosted the fabled 1980 Winter Olympics “Miracle on Ice” – and Syracuse, where the conference will again be held later this fall.
“Going to the conferences, they’re just really fun and educational,” Sepesi said. “There’s so many things that happen that just stick with you the entire time. …At the roundtable discussions, each school highlights an event they do at their school. That’s something we definitely talk about after the conference.”
Kregel said the Red Hook council is looking for ways to bring some of those activities into their own building, noting some of them are already happening here. They also are looking for ways to extend the community service project locally.
This year’s project focused on CPR. With the help of the American Heart Association and the Buffalo Bills organization, each conference participant was certified in hands-only CPR. The training was a part of the American Heart Association initiative Finn’s Mission, which stresses the importance of students and families learning the CPR technique and understanding the warning signs of a stroke.
Speakers at the conference included entrepreneur and life coach Mike Smith, Work2BeWell Co-Founder and leadership consultant Sara Freauf and youth development expert Carlos Ojeda. They touched on topics that included the importance of self-care and inclusivity. While each were effective, Kregel, Sepesi and Adviser Nicole Schmidt were particularly impacted by Ojeda.
Schmidt said Ojeda preached the importance of getting to know people without judgement and the concept of “fighting forward” rather than fighting back. “How can you take a negative and turn it around and make it improve, rather than fight against something,” she said, summing up the philosophy.
“That was the first time there was a speaker that made me, like, cry,” Sepesi said. “I was very emotional with his because he put so much emotion into his speech.”
Reppucci left the conference with an Outstanding Student Leadership Award, which is given to a standout student leader from each school in the conference and nominated by advisers.
“I’m really proud of it,” he said. “I work all year round helping out with the council and trying to lead meetings. It was nice to get the award and be recognized in front of everyone.”
Kregel earned a Student Recognition Award, which “honors students who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in their school, community and statewide,” and is a judged award for members of the NYSCLSA that required an essay, a list of accomplishments and letters of recommendation. She also was the recipient of a Dale Hawley Leadership Award, which also required a letter of recommendation and awarded to one student from five different states each year.
In discussing those awards, Kregel focused on the gratitude she had for faculty advisors over the years who have taught her the leadership skills she now exhibits daily during council meetings, as well as her room for improvement through continued experiences like the statewide conference.
“Through working with this board, with the advisers and other students, I’ve gained a lot of experience and skills, and new knowledge,” she said. “There’s still lots of skills I, personally, think I can still improve. Being on the board and getting these awards, and reflecting on my leadership, that has made me even more equipped to continue growing as a leader.”
Schmidt, who is in her first year as a Student Council adviser, praised the efficiency and self-sufficiency of Kregel and her entire leadership team, as well as their experience in Western New York.
“I think we all came back inspired and energized,” she said.