Roslyn Superintendent Allison Brown pulled off a surprise for the Board of Education at their own meeting Thursday.
The week of Roslyn homecoming is known as Spirit Week, but it’s also Board of Education Appreciation Week. The high school’s board room was filled with children from the district’s five schools.
“It’s important for people to know that it takes strong schools to build strong communities, and these men and woman devote countless hours to making sure our schools are helping every child learn at a higher level and in a nurturing and loving environment,” Brown said.
In a video presented to trustees, Brown went from school to school, asking students different questions about the board, including their role, their salary and how the district could thank them.
Younger students were certain the board made thousands of dollars for their work, and one wanted to create a fundraiser to treat trustees to a Hawaiian vacation.
“I want to give a special thanks to the board of education for all their hard work, especially this year, in making a better school for Roslyn High School, whether it’s building a new facilities or installing a new student lounge, it really helps add to our student experience,” student board representative Vincent Yao said in the video.
Groups of students from each school presented trustees with homemade gifts and words of gratitude, citing things from the number of extracurriculars offered in the district to capital improvement projects such as the new library and computer lab at East Hills Elementary School.
Brown also gave each trustee a copy of “The Starbucks Experience: Five Principles for Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary” by Joseph Michelli, a book the district administrators are working with this year.
Board President Meryl Waxman Ben-Levy said she can’t remember being more surprised.
“There’s nothing that matters more than your happiness and your success, and we will do anything it takes to make sure that your school environment, anything we can do, will be as great as it can be,” Ben-Levy said to the students.
