For the last decade, Loren Bennett, who teaches history and English as a new language at East Hampton High School, has been responsible for recruiting candidates from his classes for the Angelo Del Toro Puerto Rican/Hispanic Youth Leadership Institute.
East Hampton’s delegate in the program this year is Adriano Rangel, a junior who has earned high praise from educators and peers for academic excellence and his ability to build connections.
Adriano has been a student in East Hampton since he was 8 and in third grade, when he arrived from Mexico knowing no English. Now fluent in two languages, and an honor student who loops his Spanish-speaking peers into everyday life at the school, Adriano was a perfect candidate for the Hispanic youth leadership program, Mr. Bennett said this week.
“If you have been here for only a short amount of time and don’t speak the language fluently, that can hold you back from feeling like a part of the school culture, and that is why Adriano is an asset to his peers,” Mr. Bennett said.
Adriano, who says he enjoys computer science, math, and physics the most, and who co-founded the brand-new Astronomy Club this year, is humbly embracing this role.
“The language barrier can be prominent,” he said in an interview. “I’m sort of a bridge to connect students.”
Sort of? No. Definitely, said Sara Smith, the high school principal. “He’s a natural leader in that people want to be part of what he’s doing. It’s a gift. Whether that’s Astronomy Club or Camerata, people are drawn to that, and the ability to communicate with all of those students allows him to loop a number of different people in.”
Ms. Smith recalled that even as a freshman, Adriano stood out. “He sang in front of the whole school for March Madness, and we knew this kid was special. He has just continued to impress us since then inside the classroom, in extracurriculars, and across the board.”
Adriano said he values the education he is receiving here in East Hampton. “It has shaped me as a person,” he said. “It made me think in more real and scientific ways. . . . Maybe if I had stayed in Mexico, I wouldn’t have received such a good and well-rounded education. I can speak two languages and do much more than I would have been able to do given the circumstances.”
The Angelo Del Toro Puerto Rican/Hispanic Youth Leadership Institute is a New York State Assembly-run program that aims to reinforce this message for students: “Si, se puede,” or “Yes, we can.”
The conference he attended in Albany last month was “life-changing,” Adriano said.
To qualify, he first had to write an essay. Then came an interview with Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr., who represents our area in Albany. Then came four sessions of orientation and training — including two that required traveling to Western Suffolk BOCES in Melville — so that Adriano and his fellow delegates would be prepared for their task in Albany.
There, Adriano said, the students were assigned to research thoroughly and debate the merits of three bills currently making their way through the State Legislature. One of them (A05691) would address the disproportionately large number of students of color who are subjected to harsh school disciplinary actions in contrast with their white peers; the second (A04354) would enact the Dignity, Not Detention Act, a measure aimed at addressing immigration concerns by prohibiting federal ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) contracts in New York State, and the third (A00170) would amend state law to establish the right to legal counsel in immigration cases and the policies to carry that out.
The students also learned about parliamentary procedure, assuming simulated political roles — both Democratic and Republican — in their research and debates. They got a tour of the State Capitol, too, from Assemblyman Phil Ramos, who represents parts of central Suffolk. He and his peers received copies of a graphic novel called “Si, Se Puede” by Julio Anta and a book titled “The Power of Latino Leadership” by Juana Bordas.
In November, he will be one of just seven Puerto Rican/Hispanic Youth Leadership Institute delegates chosen to attend a similar program, the Somos Conference in Puerto Rico, for which he received a scholarship that will cover his travel expenses. Adriano said he’s looking forward to learning about the art, culture, history, and political systems there.
And he had a message to share, too, for fellow and future East Hampton students who come from Hispanic or Latino backgrounds.
“I want to encourage you to participate in this program,” Adriano said. “Coming into it, I wasn’t expecting as much as I got out of it. It was such a fulfilling experience that words aren’t enough. Try it out.”