“Whatever you do, I know it will be great. Make a difference in people’s lives.”

Those were the closing remarks from Lenny Esposito, retired New York Police Department detective and retired United States Army major, who gave the keynote address to the graduates of the Leadership and Law Summer Enrichment Academy.

 

 

The graduates numbered 123 for this 20th class of the Leadership and Law Academy. Students received 108 hours of instruction and, as Pine Bush High School Principal Aaron Hopmayer noted, pushed themselves both physically and academically.

“You earned the ability to be here today,” said Mr. Hopmayer at the graduation. “There are no participation trophies. I look around at the young men and women before me. Everyone has a reason for being here.”

 

 

Twenty years ago, Mr. Hopmayer and then Town of Crawford police Officer Dominick Blasko came up with the idea of putting together this academy to encourage leadership among students at PBHS.

“Twenty years ago, we didn’t realize what this would mean,” said Mr. Hopmayer. “We’ve made the difference in the lives of so many people.”

They sure have!

 

“No matter how good you are, you can always do better,” said Chief Blasko, who now heads the Crawford Police Department. “Even when things are good, you can always improve. Change makes things better.”

He encouraged the students to be leaders in their everyday lives.

 

 

“Don’t be a leader on social media. Be a leader in person,” said Chief Blasko. “Walk these halls with purpose. Keep working hard. Keep being a leader.”

During their three weeks of instruction, the students heard from many leaders in the community, including Superintendent Brian Dunn, who spoke to the group about leadership. He reminded them of their interaction during his remarks for their graduation.

 

 

“Leadership starts on the inside,” Mr. Dunn said. “High moral conduct in and out of school. Productive struggle – getting your movements down, figuring it out together – that’s what makes leaders.”

Mr. Dunn thanked the parents and caregivers who have supported the students this summer, noting how hard they’ve pushed themselves.

 

 

Mr. Esposito, the keynote speaker, told his story about growing up in a tough Brooklyn neighborhood, seeing friends die and violence on the streets every day. He eventually took his father’s advice back in the 1970s and joined the army. It saved his life. He went on to serve in the New York City Police Department, working his way up to detective grade 1. The story he told to these graduates, though, had more to do with the impact on people’s lives rather than anything heroic he may have done.

 

He spoke about a 14-year-old girl who was nearly beaten to  death by a man on the Upper East Side of Manhattan back in 2004. Of course it had a tremendous impact on him seeing this girl near death. He worked with her, trying to identify the assailant, but she couldn’t. About a year later, there was a DNA match when a man assaulted someone else and was caught.

Fast forward to about 2020. He got a message from the young woman who was now 30. She told him how much he meant to her, working with her back when she was just a kid. He had encouraged her to invest the money she received in a court case stemming from the assault. All these years later, she graduated with a communications degree from City University of New York and a master’s degree from Columbia University. She has a son and was able to buy an apartment  in Manhattan because she saved and invested her money, as he suggested.

 

 

They got together a while later, Mr. Esposito, his family and the young woman, Jessica. He presented her with a pendant of his police shield and she cried tears of joy.

“Even if you’re not a member of a police department or the military, make a difference in your life and others,” he concluded.

Assistant Principal Jen Evans spoke to the students and their guests to close out the ceremony.

 

“Take what you’ve done this summer and bring it with you for the school year,” said Ms. Evans. “I look forward to seeing all the great things you will achieve.”

There were many awards given out to students by the instructors of the academy, who included Kevin Blackwell, Renae Bray, Andy Britto, Daniel Conley, Neil Lisberg and Rebecca Torre. The instructional assistants are Peyton DeWitt, Darwin Guzman, Isabella Gallego Herrera, Logan Norton-Lapsley, Jayden Ramos and Julia Tompkins.

A special recognition was given to Senior Investigator Jan Golding with the New York State Police, who spoke to the Leadership and Law students during the session. This annual award is presented to someone not associated with the local police department or school district but who has been a presence for the students during the academy.

For more photos, go to the district Facebook page.

 

 

Chief McCann Honor Graduate Award – Tomas Hajek

US Army Excellence Award – Ramsey Selimoski

 

Student Special Awards and Recognition

 

Academic

Platoon 1 – Lydia Luksha

Platoon 2 – Akeelah Moxam

Platoon 3 – Maureen Russell

Platoon 4 – Avery Ogden

 

Drill and Ceremony

Platoon 1 – Marvin Valcin

Platoon 2 – Camila Perlaza Soteldo

Platoon 3 – Jake Raymond

Platoon 4 – Emelia Cruz

 

Physical Training

Platoon 1 – Leah O’Donnell

Platoon 2 – James Misch

Platoon 3 – Antonio Crespo Jr.

Platoon 4 – Timothy Trojahn

 

Leadership

Platoon 1 – Rowan Stelmaszyk

Platoon 2 – Jesse Morse

Platoon 3 – David Gomez

Platoon 4 – Chance Bennett

 

Law and Leadership Summer Academy Graduates

• Kyle Abreu          
• Daniel Aguilar   
• Kylee Alexander               
• Aaron Ali            
• Nada Alsayes     
• Julian Ames       
• Kiersten Augustine          
• Molly Bakleh     
• J’da Ballard        
• Emily Beaulieu  
• Matthew Benjamin, Jr.  
• Chance Bennett
• Nicole Bernal Morocho
• Karlee Blauvelt  
• Elias Blumrath  
• Samuel Bolduc  
• Ethan Bray         
• Joseph Britto     
• Henry Brown     
• Natalie Buckridge            
• Paige Ceriello    
• Sam Cerone       
• Aidan Clark        
• Grace Coleman 
• Travis Coleman
• Andrew Colon   
• Ethan Conrow   
• Reese Correa    
• Antonio Crespo, Jr.         
• Emelia Cruz        
• Sadie DeGeorge              
• Julianna  DeLongis          
• Jake DeVries      
• Jace Dimsey      
• Chase Dodson   
• Kate Doti            
• Eddy Duarte Moreno     
• Samantha Fiorentino      
• Gregory Florin   
• Isaiah Fortune   
• Max Fox             
• Lillian Gabriele  
• Yamireth Garcia-Murguia             
• David Gomez     
• Isaac Gould        
• Dekoda Greer    
• Ivan  Gutierrez  
• Brooke Haas      
• Tomas Hajek      
• Abigail Hansen  
• Hason (Jason) Hernandez             
• Thor Holmgren 
• Sophia Huang    
• Sharlenne Ingenito         
• Arnel Jean-Pharuns         
• Xangel V. Leppert  Jones              
• Ivana Johnson   
• James Judson    
• Logan Kenney    
• Dylan King          
• Cayden Kuchta  
• India Latta         
• Giovanni Linares             
• Stevenson Louis              
• Lydia Luksha      
• Rocco Maccarello
• Theodore Martin
• Matthew Martir
• Alexander McCord
• Yauvani McKenzie
• Gabriel McNally
• James Misch
• Lauren Moakley
• Julia Mongillo
• Sean Thomas Mora
• Edward Morley
• Jesse Morse
• Akeelah Moxam
• Sophia Muniz
• Bryghton Narain
• Jaedyn Newberns
• Leah O’Donnell
• Avery Ogden
• Anna Olivier
• Ryleigh Ortiz
• Heidi Pagan
• Camila  Perlaza Soteldo
• Toni Prokosch
• Genesis Pryce
• Rayaan Qureshi
• Melina Ramdehal
• Jake Raymond
• Viri Reed
• Kaya Reisert
• Nina Rodriguez
• Ariana Rogers
• Ethel Rohr
• Aaron Rose
• Maureen Russell
• Santiago Saavedra Jurado
• Jeffrey Saint Hilaire
• Abraham Santelises
• Aaron Schoenberg
• Miguel A. Segura
• Ramsey Selimoski
• Salvador Serrano
• Hailey Sherman
• Logan Smith
• Rowan Stelmaszyk
• Isabella Stiles
• Roscoe Sudol
• Angelique Trivino
• Timothy Trojahn
• Marvin Valcin
• Jordyn VanEtten
• Taylor Vero
• Sophie Warren
• Emma Welch
• Elon Zanetti