Annually, students from Shenendehowa High School head to the New York State Capitol to advocate for various social or political topics. This year, students participated in mock trials and communicated with legislators to pass new bills.
Dylan De Roda is a senior at Shenendehowa High School and his trip to the Capitol was for the Puerto Rican Hispanic Youth Leadership Institute. Many Hispanic students across New York State attended. They gathered in an assembly chamber to do a mock assembly on four legislative bills.
“The most rewarding part, I think, was meeting all the people there, it was really a good experience. They’re all great people,” said De Roda.
De Roda has been in the Puerto Rican Hispanic Youth Leadership Institute for the past 3 years. He was awarded the outstanding student delegate from the Capital Region his junior year.
“I think because of this program, I do have an interest, potentially, in politics, doing that through, like the Department of Transportation and not necessarily working in government in that sort of sense,” said De Roda.
De Roda said both his public speaking and Spanish skills have improved.
“The experience of speaking on the assembly floor was really cool, like mimicking a politician. I’m definitely going to come back home and I’d rather be in New York State doing that sort of thing,” said De Roda.
Sonia Singh is a senior at Shenendehowa High School and also the current 2025-2026 term Treasurer of the Student Faculty Administration (SFA) Senate.
Last year, the SFA Senate appeared at the Capitol to convince legislators, such as Senator Jim Tedisco, to pass the free meals for all New York State students budget.
Following the SFA Senate’s advocacy, the 2025-2026 Executive Budget amended New York State Education Law by adding Section 915a: Universal Free School Meals. Students attending a public high school in the state of NY will get all breakfast and lunch meals for free.
“This year, we were just reinforcing the idea that this is an important bill and that it should be continued to be implemented for the next few years, because it’s not guaranteed from year to year,” said Singh.
Lizzie Andrus, Shenendehowa High School Alumni, first started the Free Meals Movement in January of 2024.
“My reason to fight for free meals started six years ago with a boy I ate lunch with,” Andrus said. “Sometimes he brought a granola bar with him to lunch but most days he sat quietly because he couldn’t afford to buy lunch. This is just one snapshot of the many kids throughout New York State falling through the cracks.”
