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I received the following  e mail from Town Judge Delores Scott Brathwaite about a very exciting initiative she and her colleagues are organizing: a High School Moot Court competition. They should be commended.  This is a very exciting initiative that will inspire students -a program participants will always remember.
PAUL FEINER

Dear Supervisor Feiner ~

I read with interest your e-mail below about encouraging our young people to be involved in the spoken word.   In fact, I think we should have something in the Town that will showcase young people such as Sara Corp and the other young lady who spoke at athe 911 Memorial last year -- both of whom are outstanding and need to have our support.

In keeping with that vein, I could not agree more that we mustto encourage our young people and energize them into becoming involved in competition and the spoken word.  In fact, to that end, the Greenburgh Town Court is way ahead of the game.  The GTC has already embarked on just such an outreach initiative.

Back in December the Judges began meeting with lawyers, educators and community leaders to join with us to begin the first GREENBURGH TOWN COURT MOOT COURT COMPETITION for our high school students.  We have been able to put together an awesome team of people to join us in bringing this initiative to fruition.  Just prior to the Christmas break, our Moot Court Committee met and has now contacted all the high schools in the Town of Greenburgh and its Villages, including the private schools encouraging their participation in this event.  We intend to hold the competition in the Spring of 2014.  To date, four (4) schools responded favorably prior to the Christmas break stating that they are excited about this program and  will have students participating.  Between now and the middle of January we will be hearing from the other schools. There is a team in place that where individuals have been assigned to be the individual contact for each of the schools. The various Moot Court sub-committees have been meeting to begin the process of developing and preparing the fact pattern, briefs, competition instructions, etc. as well as other information which the students will need for their successful participation.  Other committees such as the public relations/communications; fundraising; advisors/trainers for the students, etc. are also underway.   We have our schedule of meetings in place in order to ensure that we meet our date in April to inaugurate this Competition.  So we are well on our way and hope that the community will also get involved as needed to support our young people and this effort of the Greenburgh Town Court.

You should be aware that the Greenburgh Town Court has been reaching out to our young people since we have been on board - whether it has been inviting our Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Youth Groups to observe the court - which Judge Rivera does frequently - or having college students and law students come and assist us at the court, - which has been the undertaking of Judge Brathwaite and Judge Gordon-Oliver -- we are constantly committed to our community and our young people and young adults. So  as we now diligently prepare for this first Moot Court Competition in April, I know we will be able to count on your support and the support of the entire Town Board in this inititative.  By the way, we do this while working and maintaining a full court schedule seven days a week.

All the best for a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year !!!

Respectfully,

Judge Delores Scott Brathwaite
Executive Director of the GTC Moot Court Competition

Judge Arlene Gordon Oliver - Director
Judge Walter Rivera - Director


-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Feiner <pfeiner@greenburghny.com>
To: 'gblist@cit-e.net' <gblist@cit-e.net>
Sent: Fri, Jan 3, 2014 4:56 pm
Subject: Greenburgh/Westchester should follow NYC example and create new position: YOUTH POET LAUREATE

I would like to propose that Greenburgh and Westchester County follow the example of NYC and create a Youth Poet Laureate position. On January 1st, Youth Poet Laureate Ramya Ramana read a winning poem at the inauguration of NYC’s 109th Mayor, Bill de Blasio.  Ramya read her poem “It’s Not Your Problem”, a poem she composed for the voting themed spoken word competition hosted by Urban World NYC and held at Lincoln Center in October.  Ramana is a student at St. John’s University.

The New York City Youth Poet Laureate (YPL) program is a voting-themed teen competition designed to energize youth voters through spoken word poetry. The program is open to students, ages 16-19.  As part of the responsibilities of a Youth Poet Laureate, the winner travels the five boroughts and speaks to their peers about voting and civic engagement. The Poet Laureate also tours High Schools. And receives a book deal of their poetry.  The NYC program started in 2010.

Communities should encourage young people to engage in civic life. We should encourage outstanding students to pursue their dreams and to appreciate the arts and poetry. And, we should recognize the best and brightest young people by highlighting their talents.  A Youth Poet Laureate  would be a great program for Greenburgh and Westchester to have.
PAUL FEINER
Greenburgh Town Supervisor

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