Assemblyman Ed Ra (R-Franklin Square) hosted his fifth annual “There Ought to Be a Law” ceremony on Wednesday, June 14, at Mineola Middle School to recognize 41 semi-finalists who were selected to represent their class. There were 724 total entries from 11 local schools. Ra was pleased to announce co-winners this year, Brendan Hoefenkrieg from St. Anne School in Garden City and Erin Kelly from Mineola Middle School, who wrote about the importance of regulating social media use for minors. “There Ought To Be A Law” invites students to think critically about ideas they think might make good laws.

“The ‘There Ought To Be A Law’ contest gives young students the opportunity to be creative and comment on what they observe around them. Every year, I learn a lot myself through this contest—I get to see what our young community members care about, what they think can be improved upon and how they believe we can better the community for all. Congratulations to Brendan and Erin, who called attention to the complicated and ever-expanding domain of social media. Thank you to all who participated this year for your civic engagement and bright ideas, it gives me great confidence that our local communities are in good hands when these individuals grow up and take on leadership roles,” Ra said.

Participating schools and student semi-finalists are as follows:

Washington Street School
Sophia Cafaro
Ryan Hoffman
Angelo Russo

Manor Oaks
Abrar Arib
Matteo Glavic

Hillside Grade School
Lucas Amaya
Myles Herritt
Kevin Villanueva

Stratford School
Alicia Broder
Juliana Klocek
Elizabeth Nick
Bridget Psaki
Jack Roller
Grace Santare
Grace Volpe

George Washington School
Avdyl Dautaj
Amalia Jimenez Delgado
Rony Hilaire
Leila Koodsi

John Street School
Nicholas Betancourt
Emiliano Hernandez
Kaitlyn Widmer

St. Joseph School
Dustin Solis
Aryanna Velez

Rushmore Avenue School
Dana Mastromauro
Zoe Grigoraki
Anabelle Farooq

St. Anne School
Addison Chiffriller
Brendan Hoefenkrieg

Notre Dame School
Colin Lucio
Brianna Woodward

Mineola Middle School
Karissa Consalvo
Alice Cosgrove
Samuel Etwaroo
Joshua Freese
Erin Kelly
Liam Leiter
Jessica Miriel
Ana Pereira
Mason Sckalor
Harlan Spies