Top Hispanic Students Travel to Albany for Leadership Program
Castleton, NY (April 21, 2008)—Two hundred of the state’s top Hispanic students travel to Albany this weekend for a firsthand look at the state legislative process.
Students will meet with members of the New York State Legislature, New York State Assembly/Senate Puerto Rican and Hispanic Task Force and New York State Education Department as part of the annual Angelo Del Toro Puerto Rican Hispanic Youth Leadership Institute (PR/HYLI).
PR/HYLI is an annual statewide program designed to promote and develop leadership and public speaking skills in Hispanic high school students.
It is sponsored by the State Senate/Assembly Puerto Rican and Hispanic Task Force in conjunction with the annual Somos El Futuro Legislative Conference. Started in 1990, PRHYLI was dedicated to the memory of the Honorable Angelo Del Toro in 1995. Assemblyman Del Toro was instrumental in the creation of this unique program and it reflects his extraordinary vision and energy.
Twelve student delegations will participate in a mock legislative session in the New York State Assembly chambers. Students will debate actual bills that reflect key issues in their communities, such as discrimination, funding for social and educational programs, graduation requirements and immigration.
The three-day program also includes team building exercises, college and career development workshops, a youth forum with state legislators and a student recognition dinner where scholarship winners are announced.
To prepare for the event students participated in training sessions with volunteers from local BOCES, school districts and universities. Students identified and researched local issues, studied the state legislative process and learned the parliamentary process.
PR/HYLI State Coordinator Linda Benfatto Weber said the leadership program continues the work of the late Angelo Del Toro, a member of the New York State Assembly who died in 1994. Del Toro was influential in helping Hispanic youth understand their civic duty and encouraging them to give back to their communities.
“This leadership program provides students with a unique opportunity to see what they’re capable of. This confidence really opens their eyes to the possibilities after high school,” Weber said.
Weber said past participants from the Capital Region delegation have gone onto Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and other prestigious institutions.
Questar III is coordinating the leadership institute as part of a five-year contract awarded by the New York State Education Department. PRHYLI is co-sponsored by the State Education Department Office of Bilingual Education and Foreign Studies, New York City Department of Education, Aspira of New York, Inc., College Board, and Bilingual Education Technical Assistance Centers (BETACs).