July 2025 – Page 3 – Greene Gazette

Algae bloom turns Roth Pond bright green, prompts health warning

By Allisson Paz
Brentwood High School

Suffolk County health officials have announced that blue-green algae were discovered at Roth Pond at Stony Brook University and other locations on Long Island, prompting health officials to warn the public to stay cautious.

Residents were told to keep their children and pets away from these waters and not to swim or wade in them. When the algae becomes more abundant they bloom in shades of green, blue-green, yellow, brown or red , health officials said. Those who come in contact with these waters should immediately rinse off with clean water.

The county has put in a lot of time and energy trying to slow down and manage this growing problem, according to Grace Kelly-McGovern, Public Relations Director at Suffolk County Department of Health Services. Over the past few years, the county has taken several steps in hopes of making a difference, whether it’s organizing clean-up efforts, or putting up signs to raise awareness.

Roth Pond glows an eerie green as blue-green algae takes hold, prompting warnings from health officials (Photo by Allisson Paz)

“In Suffolk County, a new one-eighth percent sales tax was passed to fund a septic improvement program aimed at reducing nitrogen pollution in local waterways,“ she said. “The tax increase, approved in November by voters as Proposition 2, will generate an estimated $3.1 billion through 2060. Half of the revenue will go towards upgrading county-owned sewage treatment systems, while the other half will be allocated to homeowners for septic system replacements with nitrogen-reducing technology.”

This type of algae usually shows up in small amounts in lakes, ponds, and streams, and when it’s at normal levels, it doesn’t really cause any harm. It’s just part of the natural ecosystem. But when the algae starts to bloom and spread out of control, that’s when it becomes a problem. The overgrowth can mess with the balance of the water, blocking sunlight, lowering oxygen levels, and making it harder for fish and other animals to survive, according to the Suffolk County Health Department.

What was once a small, harmless part of nature quickly turns into something that’s damaging to everything living in and around the water. “Under favorable conditions of sunlight, temperature, and nutrient concentrations, they can form massive blooms that discolor the water and often result in scum and floating mats on the water’s surface.” according to the Suffolk County Health Department.

Health officials have also determined that the blue-green algae was found in other locations including Wainscott Pond in Wainscott, Lake Agawam in Southampton, Pond Lane and Swan Pond in East Hampton, Babylon Town Hall Park in Babylon, Maratooka Lake and Wolf Pit Lake, both in Mattituck.

According to Kelly-Mcgovern, there are many actions residents can take to help reduce the impact of blue-green algae

“To reduce cyanobacteria blooms, we must reduce nutrient concentrations. People can reduce fertilizer use, maintain their septic systems, manage stormwater runoff, and create natural buffers along shorelines,” she said.

Thursday afternoon, the Roth Pond looked especially uninviting, as it usually does. The water was intense, almost neon lime green, and completely murky. You couldn’t see even an inch below the surface.

Scattered across the top of the pond were all kinds of debris, including strange black clumps, piles of soggy leaves, and tiny creatures barely visible to the eye. It looked as if the pond hadn’t been cleaned or cared for in a while.

It was surprising to see turtles swimming around in that mess. The blue-green algae is ordinarily harmful to animals, but they moved through it anyway. It’s not clear how the condition of the pond might affect the wildlife that still calls it home.

Roth Pond is an artificial pond located in the heart of Stony Brook University’s campus. Over time it has become a spot many students recognize and visit.

Several years ago, the bottom liner tore and the pond completely drained, leaving behind a nearly empty, muddy mess. Most of the animals living in it didn’t survive, but after the university fixed the liner and filled it back up, wildlife like turtles and fish were slowly brought back in or returned on their own.

Now, the pond is not only a place for ducks and turtles to hang out, but it’s also home to one of the school’s most popular traditions, the Roth Pond Regatta, where students build their own boats and race them across the water every spring.

Blue-green algae has become a growing problem around Long Island, including at Roth Pond , where it continues to show up during warmer months . Although it occurs naturally when it blooms too much, it harms both the environment and the animals that live there.

It’s not just about phones: NY’s school ban raises safety concerns

By Emily Soriano
Westbury High School

In a world where a single text can mean the difference between life and death, schools in New York are apparently ignoring this danger, say critics of a new statewide ban on phones in schools.

While the intention may be pure and created to improve focus, many students and parents argue that removing access to phones puts them in danger during emergencies. During a lockdown, students rely on their phones to alert family, contact authorities, and receive updates. Without these devices, students are left in the dark and unaware of what may be going on.

“The NYC Public Schools plan follows the State’s new Distraction-Free Schools law signed by Governor Hochul this year, which requires bell-to-bell smartphone restrictions in K-12 school districts statewide, starting this fall for the 2025-2026 school year,” reads the New York State governor’s website. This has sparked controversy.

The Pew Research Center recently did a study on how parents feel about this phone ban. The majority of parents agree that they should be able to reach their child at any moment of the day. In the graph below three of the four categories demonstrate that phones are important in their students’ day-to-day lives at school.

Data of parents beliefs on phones (Pew Research Center)

“They should limit the usage of phones but it shouldn’t be that strict to ban it throughout the school day,” Jake Taduran of Paul D. Schreiber High School in Port Washington said. Although Taduran agrees with the limit of phone usage, he also disagrees with the complete ban on the device.

“I have asthma,” he said. “My priority is to call my family and not wait for the office to call my mom.”

Besides medical emergencies like Taduran notes, Ray Weber, community affairs liaison for state Senator Anthony Palumbo, mentions “the ability to contact emergency services, parents, in the case of an emergency. So, the idea that you need to ban phones from school is somewhat of a nuance issue that needs to be discussed a little further before we start banning cellphones altogether.”

What could be the most heartbreaking emergency to hear about from your child over the phone? School shootings have been on the rise year after year, raising public concern.

A student from Division Avenue High School in Levittown, Caleb Cheng, expressed his concerns: “I can’t make that split-second decision of letting someone know that could either save my life or kill me, it doesn’t sit right in my head.”

The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), an independent source for health policy research, polling, and news, demonstrates how shootings have grown to be a great danger.

Shooting expansion rate in the U.S. over time. (KFF Analysis of Washington Post Data)

The importance of having cellphones for security needs to be taken into account. Although security is a top priority, so is education. The distraction it has on students is undeniable. Students tend to depend on these cellular devices throughout the day, whether by just looking at them for the time, to shoot a quick text, or to play a game in between classes. “Though school cell phone policies can vary significantly, 97% of 11- to 17-year-olds used their phones during the school day,” according to K-12 Drive , an educational media outlet.

Banning cellphones may increase productivity in the classroom for students but could be putting them at risk during an unfortunate predicament. It’s necessary to consider the bigger picture. Cutting off a student’s quickest way to reach for help can have deadly consequences. The goal is to create progress, not punishment.

Stony Brook radio station makes waves on air for 48 years — and counting

By Shirley Jiang
East Hampton High School

DJ Drew commands the booth at WUSB, the college radio station at Stony Brook University, where nearly five decades of student and community radio come to life. (Photo by Shirley Jiang)

On June 27, 1977, at 5:30 p.m., Stony Brook University’s WUSB radio station signed for the first time, playing “All the Young Dudes” by Mott the Hoople.

Over 48 years, the station at 90.1 FM has served the Stony Brook area with ever-changing technology while keeping the interest of the people in mind.

The station can be heard in Long Island, Southern Connecticut, Brooklyn, Queens, and Westchester County with more than 6,000 listeners each day.

This year, for the 48th anniversary, the founding general manager and faculty advisor, Professor Norman Prusslin, was interviewed on the history of the station and the live concerts it used to produce on campus.

Playing “All the Young Dudes” became a yearly tradition along with playing music from the 70s to invoke nostalgia.

Along with music from the 70s, the WUSB airs music ranging from jazz, punk rock, pop, world music, local music, international music and exclusive music. The station also covers music history and includes public service announcements.

Isobel Breheny-Schafer, the assistant director of student media and general manager of WUSB, said the public service announcements increases the exposure of local non-profits to a larger audience and “makes all of us feel very good.” Featured nonprofits include libraries, children’s hospitals, veterans’ homes and events such as blood drives.

Students hold positions including program director, music director, student sports director, DJ and alumni sports director. The station also depends greatly on volunteers. There are more than 2,000 of them-students, faculty and community members who are required to complete volunteer hours. The volunteers can be compensated with college credits or work as paid interns.

“Music wouldn’t be the way it is today without the radio,” said Andrew Sivillo, also known as DJ Drew, a SUNY Oneonta graduate interning at WUSB. Radio allows the community to stay informed and is a source of social discourse, Sivillo said. DJ Drew enjoys hosting weekly shows and loves psychedelic rock, jazz fusion and power pop.

Breheny-Schafer has witnessed changes in the radio industry along with improvements in technology. The station started with an analog phone system, analog sound board for broadcasting, printed news reports, analog phone lines for transmission and often received music on vinyl and CDs.

Today, the WUSB relies on ethernet lines for transmission, digitized boards and soundboards and receives music from online sources such as Spotify and music companies.

With the development of phones, the station is now portable.

“I listen to the radio in the car,” Breheny-Schafer said. “I listen to it on the computer in the office. The radio is always on in my house. I have different radios in different rooms so I almost always have the radio on.”

Chaos in Haiti spurred Keren’s interest in journalism

By Zeydi Guerra
Hempstead High School

Keren Philippe’s love for journalism started in middle school with a Peter Rabbit-themed journal.

Soon after that one filled up she moved onto a new notebook and hasn’t stopped since.

Keren, a 17-year-old senior from Central Islip, was born in the United States to Phanol and Wilrodia Phillippe. She lived here for eight months until the family moved back to Haiti. She returned with her mother and brother when she was 14, four years ago.

They moved from Haiti due to conditions being, as she described them, “shaky” and “corrupt.” But those conditions had the positive result of sparking her love of journalism.

She recalled a moment in Haiti at a teen center based on Christian values where her mother worked. A missionary named Miss Vicky grew attached to Keren and praised her for her constant note-taking. Keren said, “I would always pay attention, with a notebook and a wooden pencil in hand.” The missionary took note of this and bought Keren a small Peter-Rabbit-themed journal. Keren said, “She told me to write away, to journal anything I thought of.”

“It helped me be better,” Keren said.

She began to write about everything and anything, especially the violence around her. She wanted future generations to see what had happened in her world. When she finished the journal, which was quite small, she decided to start a new one.

She wrote about her experiences dealing with American stereotypes of the home she loves so much. “People need to understand what’s happening before they try to add their opinion to it,” Keren said. “Many tend to believe that Haiti is underprivileged and that we live in huts.”

“People need to understand what’s happening before they try to add their opinion to it,” Keren said. “Many tend to believe that Haiti is underprivileged and that we live in huts.”
– Keren Philippe

Keren said she found solace in her school’s newspaper club, where she enjoys writing about all sorts of topics. Her favorite thing to write about is art. She said, “art isn’t something you look at; art imitates life. There’s all different kinds of arts, and I want to be the one covering it.”

Keren speaks French, Haitian creole and English, and she is learning Spanish, Italian, Russian, Japanese and Greek.

She said she was ecstatic about being included in the Robert W. Greene Summer Institute for High School Journalists. She said she hopes to become a better writer through the program and to get to a level where she can use her talents to help others.

“My biggest problem in my writing is that I always felt as if I was doing it wrong. Now I’m hoping to learn better ways to plan out my ideas and write them.”

Her mother, Wilrodia Philippe, said she is very proud of Keren. “She’s accomplished a lot. The steps she’s taking are all building towards something meaningful.”

Lisseth Hernandez is finding her voice

By Emily Soriano
Westbury High School

Lisseth Hernandez isn’t just someone who enjoys writing. The 17-year-old from Central Islip has found comfort, resilience and expression through words.

Whether it’s writing in journals, drafting a short story or helping Central Islip High School’s newspaper, writing has become more than a hobby.

“Writing to me is my escapism,” she said, noting that “writing is another world” that allows her to seep into topics she finds important.

“Writing to me is my escapism.”
– Lisseth Hernandez

This summer, Lisseth has joined the Robert W. Greene Summer Institute for High School Journalists at Stony Brook University, where she wants to improve her writing skills. Plus, “I want our school’s work in writing to get more recognition,” she said.

Lisseth will be entering her senior year as the Newspaper Club treasurer and public relations manager. She is also active in the Literary Club, women’s group, a community service and advocacy group, and runs on the cross-country team.

At first, “newspaper was just the club I joined my freshman year looking to be involved in but never imagined how much I’d love it,” she said. Lisseth edits articles, conducts interviews and writes commentaries “about school events like our cultural night, musical, club features and just about anything I find interesting.”

She started an alumni spotlight series and shares posts and videos to social media.

Her path to the Green Institute started with two important mentors who Lisseth calls her “second parents”: Rahana Schmalacker, her former English teacher and current newspaper adviser, and Darren Ehrhardt, her tech teacher and stage crew adviser. “Without them, I wouldn’t have the confidence I have now.”

Lisseth has overcome significant personal challenges to achieve her goals. She has lived with depression and mild psychotic tendencies, including hallucinations that once left her terrified and isolated. “I started to hear voices of people I knew calling my name or whispering things I couldn’t understand. It went on for months,” she said.

Eventually, she turned for comfort to Schmalacker, who provided her with important guidance and reassurance. That turned out to be a turning point in her life.

“I got a new perspective: if I could work through my issues that left me unable to ask for help, I could find a way to give voice to others that couldn’t,” Lisseth said.

On her personal social media platforms, Lisseth encourages people to speak out about their beliefs pertaining to recent social and civil rights issues.

“Ultimately, hardship is always the biggest motivator to keep pushing forward,” she said.

Her support system includes her parents, Melvin Hernandez and Lissett Hernandez Cruz, and two younger sisters, Allison, 14, and Genesis, 9. “They encourage me to explore my interests and are proud I’m going into this program,” she said.

Lisseth’s best friend, Kamila Sarmiento Romero, said “writing has given Lisseth an outlet to talk about her experiences and bring awareness to issues that have personally plagued her and her community. It gives her a voice in a place and an environment where it is so easy to feel voiceless.”

For Lisseth, journalism isn’t just about reporting facts. It’s about hope, connection and finding light in the darkest moment. “If I can keep pushing through the barriers in my own head, then I know I can give a voice to someone else who feels they can’t speak up.”

Lisseth said she’s determined to keep writing because “it’s helped me build confidence. It’s like a gateway into a lot of what makes me good in conversation, too.”

Zeydi Guerra: Turning Passion Into Purpose

By Keren Philippe
Central Islip High School

Although she is interested in fashion, music and history, Zeydi Guerra discovered that her true path is to become a political journalist and public advocate.

Zeydi, 16, a rising senior at Hempstead High School, was born and raised on Long Island but she visits her family’s home in El Salvador at least twice a year. Her father was born there and fled a civil war, coming to the United States alone.

Her parents are Mayra and Julian Guerra, and she has five siblings, two of whom live with her in Hempstead. The others are scattered about the globe. Returning to El Salvador is important, she said, because that is where most of her family lives.

Not surprisingly she speaks English and Spanish, but she has also studied Latin, and she is now finishing up learning Dutch through apps, conversation and texting.

Her room in the Hempstead house is also home to her chunky pet rabbit, Coco, who is five years old. Besides rabbits her favorite animals are bats, frogs, foxes and hedgehogs.

Zeydi is a big theater kid who loves meeting other theater kids. She is especially fond of musicals by Jonathan Larson, especially “Tick, Tick… Boom!”

When it comes to fashion and decor, Zeydi leans to emo and alt styles. Her room is decorated with posters of her favorite bands. She currently favors indie rock, Spanish rock and emo, from groups like The 1975, Soda Stereo, and The Brobecks. She has a large CD collection to choose from.

“Without music I wouldn’t be here,” she said, referring to difficult times and her aspirations. “It helped me get through so many things. I always have headphones on.”

Her favorite band is The Strokes, which she said helped her make a self-discovery. “Writing about The Strokes,” she said, “made me realize that I wanted to write about the things I’m interested in, which is usually politics since I love history.”

Zeydi also began to write about movies instead of just analyzing them in her head. During her AP Language and Composition class, for which she had to keep a journal, she analyzed her different interests.

Zeydi is attending the Robert W. Greene Summer Institute For High School Journalists to explore a career in media. “I’ve always been interested in having a career in journalism, but I feel as if the program is going to really solidify that decision for me – to really make sure that as I am getting into the real world that this is what I want to do.”

I’ve always been interested in having a career in journalism, but I feel as if the program is going to really solidify that decision for me.”
– Keren Philippe

Besides pursuing journalism, Zeydi knows she wants a career based in public speaking. She’s been doing school announcements in Spanish and English since the second grade and sees that strength as a way to advocate for others. She believes herself to be very confident and opinionated.

So does her choir teacher, Rachel Blackburn, who said “she expresses herself with clarity and thoughtfulness, both in verbal discussions and in her writing.”

Zeydi is sure she wants to continue to be an advocate for others in her future, standing up for what is right.

“I want to be a political journalist,” she decided. “I want to become an advocate for people politically.”

Araya White: Finding a voice in a loud world

Gabrielle Sanders
Roosevelt High School

Although she’s 16, Araya White has found something that many people fail to find at all ages – her voice.

For the rising senior at Uniondale High School, writing isn’t just a school requirement. It’s a form of expression in a loud world that can drown out voices and often silences them.

“I like to be able to actually create what I want in my writing,” she said, explaining that it’s a way for her to communicate with those around her.

Araya got her exposure to and love of journalism from an English class teacher, who had been a journalist and screenwriter. Writing, she said, is her safe place; a space where she can really show her feelings compared to other subjects, like science and math, that are more rigid.

Her need to express herself has inspired her to start a podcast. For her, she said, it’s not about followers, but about giving herself the opportunity to step out of her shy comfort zone and to speak out about issues in the real world, like nursing, healthcare and pet adoptions. “Through podcasts, I’ll be able to speak out about different problems around the world,” she said. “It’ll help me because it will give me more confidence to speak out.”

She also wants to inspire others to do the same, she said, just like she was encouraged when she saw other podcasters expressing themselves.

Of course, at the heart of anyone’s journey is family. Her dad, uncle, siblings and other family members push her to strive and do her best everyday. “Everybody just tells me to keep going, very supportive,” Araya said.

“Through podcasts, I’ll be able to speak out about different problems around the world,” she said. “It’ll help me because it will give me more confidence to speak out.”
– Araya White

“Araya has a great way of speaking to people and captivating people through her imagination,” her godmother Judith McLean said. “Araya is very amenable, very friendly and she loves to joke.”

Like most people, Araya has hobbies. For Araya, it’s baking and music. She likes them because they bring people together. “They make me more relatable,“ she said. “My hobbies make me able to speak to people.”

Araya views the Robert W. Greene Summer Institute for High School Journalists as another opportunity to meet and speak to people. “I wanted to find something I wanted to do in high school and I really liked writing so I thought that this would be a great opportunity,” she said. She also expects to learn how to write productively so she is able to fulfill her dreams of becoming a better writer and communicator.

Whether it is through podcasting or writing in her English class, Araya will never stop striving to share her voice to the world as her story continues to unfold. “I just really like writing a lot,” she said. “It makes me happy.”

Faith Welch: A passion for activism, advocacy, and writing

By Araya White
Uniondale High School

Growing up in the rural area of Greenport, N.Y., was hard for Faith Welch, who recalls being bullied or overlooked by others. However, everything that happened has helped shape her journey of perseverance and dedication to truth-telling.

Faith is in the 11th grade at Greenport High School, where she likes to write articles and opinion pieces for her school newspaper and a weekly community newspaper, The Suffolk Times. One of her stories was titled “Why Everyone Should Celebrate Juneteenth,” showing why Black culture should be celebrated. She also wrote an article on why preservation is important to both the environment and history, encouraging people of all backgrounds to celebrate African American culture along with her.

Faith said one of her goals for the future is a career in journalism, with a focus on showing the struggles that African Americans experience in their communities. When Faith applied for, and earned acceptance to, the Robert W. Greene Summer Institute for High School Journalists, she said she felt “happy and surprised” that she got picked.

“This will help in five years with jobs, and help with writing on a deadline when it gets hard,” said Faith.

She also said it will help build her résumé and show her the experience of journalists in the real world.

One of Faith’s mentors, Nicki Gohorel, the cofounder of the North Fork chapter of Coming to the Table, said she has known Faith for more than two years. “Time has gone by and Faith has found her voice,” Gohorel said, adding that Faith is also “able to communicate well with others.”

While Faith doesn’t often say “no,” Gohorel said, it reminds her of herself. Faith “has a strong voice when she speaks in her truth for what she is passionate about,” Gohorel said.

Blending Creativity and Curiosity: Gabrielle Sanders brings passion and empathy to journalism

By Faith Welch
Greenport High School

Gabrielle Sanders has always existed in the in-between, a place where creativity meets logic, where introversion meets growth, and where the sciences and the arts dance together in harmony.

The 17-year-old rising senior at Roosevelt High School wants to use the Robert W. Greene Summer Institute for High School Journalists to explore how her many interests can intersect and how storytelling can be a bridge between them.

“I feel like journalism is an art form that can be used in powerful ways,” Gabrielle said. “It helps people learn things they wouldn’t otherwise know. It can bring awareness, expose truth and make a difference in communities.”

That belief inspired her to apply to the Greene Institute. Though she’s relatively new to journalism, Gabrielle is already a member of her school’s newspaper club and helped develop a journalism class.

She sees this summer as a chance to deepen her skills and discover what a career in media might look like. “We don’t really learn journalism in school,” she explained. “So I saw this as an opportunity to explore something that’s not usually offered.”

Sanders has many passions, from music production to marine biology, and she doesn’t believe in putting herself in a box. Instead, she’s drawn to the ways journalism can combine disciplines and allow for creative expression. “I love that journalism can involve writing, music, science, storytelling — all of it,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be one thing.”

“I feel like journalism is an art form that can be used in powerful ways,” Gabrielle said. “It helps people learn things they wouldn’t otherwise know. It can bring awareness, expose truth and make a difference in communities.”
– Gabrielle Sanders

Her favorite classes include music theory, biology and creative writing. Her interests spill into her free time, where she enjoys drawing, producing music and learning about the environment.

Outside the classroom, Gabrielle participates in a range of extracurriculars. She’s part of her school’s student government and National Honor Society. She even performed in a majorette event for Newsday during a local band festival.

Despite her confidence today, Gabrielle said she hasn’t always been outgoing. “When I was younger, I was very shy,” she said. “But being in different social environments at school helped me learn to talk to people and open up.” That self-awareness and empathy are qualities those close to her admire.

Gabrielle’s mother shared some warm words describing her daughter: “She has been a blessing. Gabrielle is kind, courageous, not afraid to attain what she wants, and I couldn’t be prouder. She’s ambitious, loving and a force to reckon with.”

While she doesn’t have a specific media figure she looks up to, Gabrielle is excited to discover new voices and perspectives during her time at the Greene Institute. She’s especially interested in cultural journalism. “Culture is something that connects everyone,” she said. “It helps us learn about each other and how we experience the world differently.”

In five to 10 years, Gabrielle envisions herself in a career that combines logic and creativity, whether that’s journalism, tech or something yet to be discovered. No matter the field, she hopes to keep learning, creating and connecting.

“If someone were to write about me,” she said, “I’d want them to say I can adapt, that I’m someone who steps out of their comfort zone and understands people.”

Gavin Rivera: A future war correspondent

By Hennie England
Huntington High School

Gavin Joseph Rivera has always been interested in history.

Eventually falling down the rabbit hole of World War II, the rising junior at Longwood High School discovered journalists and civilians who piqued his curiosity for journalism.

At a young age, Gavin became captivated by the Indiana Jones movies. The idea of traveling around the world and fighting against evil intrigued young Rivera, particularly the fact that they were set during the time of World War II. The movies spurred him to undertake countless hours of research about the war. That became Gavin’s gateway into journalism.

Through his research, Gavin was introduced to many journalists. Some of the most notable were Helen Kirkpatrick, who worked for the Chicago Daily News; Edward R. Murrow, who covered The Blitz for CBS; and Martha Gellhorn, who reported on the Liberation of France. These journalists became an inspiration for Gavin and helped him discover his dream career.

“After high school I plan on being a war correspondent,” said the 16-year-old Middle Island resident.

For Gavin, being a war correspondent is more than just writing. He also has a passion for creating images. “Photography, I suppose, is really the most important thing to me,” he explained. He grew up in a family of artists, so his creativity was supported. Gavin developed his skills by making videos with action figures and taking pictures of things deemed cool.

At Longwood, Gavin improves his skills in a photography class. He also uses those abilities in several school activities: he’s a member of the photojournalism club and assists the school district photographer with organizing events. He’s also a member of the school’s National Art Honor Society.

“Photography, I suppose, is really the most important thing to me,” he explained.“
– Gavin Joseph Rivera

Dean Macari, a childhood friend of Gavin, describes him as a passionate photographer and a serious and talented journalist. “He brings his camera everywhere,” Dean said. “He loves taking photos, people, landscapes, everything.” Dean describes Gavin as energetic, nice, optimistic and someone he enjoys taking pictures with.

Gavin plans on becoming a journalist after graduating high school, and he hopes to work towards that goal using the skills he will learn from the Robert W. Greene Summer Institute for High School Journalists.

“I hope to gain at least an entry-level point of view on what it’s like to be a journalist,” Gavin said, “and gain a little bit of knowledge on how to better prepare myself for the journalism world.”

Gavin looks forward to using journalism to educate the American people on important matters. “My dream is to be able to bring attention and support to people in dire circumstances such a famine, genocide, etc., and bring that awareness to the American people who are either ignorant by choice or limited connection to international media.”