Lawrence High graduate advancing his placement in civic involvement

There are not many taxpaying adults that have children in the Lawrence School District and attend the nearly monthly Board of Education meetings, let alone recent high school graduates, but Amil Virani, who graduated Lawrence High this year, does.

Since last October, Virani, 18, a Cedarhurst resident, has attended the board meetings that are typically on Mondays at 8 p.m. “I’m very interested in politics,” he said. “Since I have attended, I learned about the Lawrence app, the budget and students getting Chromebooks. These are the kinds of things that every state and school does. The politics is more relatable than national politics. It’s a lot closer to home and easy to understand.”

Virani was student body vice president in his senior year, took Advanced Placement Government and was involved with the Debate Club and Model Congress. Those activities helped stimulate his interest in politics. “There was shared decision-making and some I agreed with and that got me going,” he said about his stint with student government.

When Virani asks questions during the public comment portion of the meeting, they appear thought out and aim to elicit intelligent responses from the board members or the district administrators.

He asked questions about the Federal Emergency Management money Lawrence is receiving and how the money is expected to be used at the March meeting. “It’s an important thing and some areas I agree or disagree with, but I’m about showing respect, I’m not about theater, I’m about getting the information.” The district was awarded more $14 million for Hurricane Sandy damage. FEMA is paying 90 percent and New York state the remaining 10 percent.

In addition to asking questions publicly, Virani has spoken privately with Assistant Superintendent for Operations Jeremy Feder. “Mr. Feder fully explained the FEMA approval process and how bureaucratic and specific it is,” Virani said.

Virani has also spoken with Board Vice President Dr. Asher Mansdorf and Trustee David Sussman, both longtime board members. “Both David and I are very impressed that he comes to meetings, asks questions that allow him to have a better understanding,” Mansdorf said. “He seems to be involved with a small cohort of friends who are interested in government. That’s always a nice thing.”

Virani’s school activities also included the DECA, History, Music Honors and the Video Media clubs and the marching band. For teacher Mark Albin, the DECA Club adviser, Virani, he said was “one of my greatest success stories.” Albin said he was an introverted freshman, who came out for DECA as a sophomore but it was “very difficult to break him out of his shell.” DECA aims to prepare high school and college students — budding leaders and entrepreneurs — for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management.

“As a junior there was a major difference, then senior year he came out of that shell and took the constructive criticism and didn’t leave anything on the table,” Albin said. “He is a very passionate kid and you can see that passion to make the school environment a better place, the community a better place. He has a great work ethic, getting to international (the largest DECA competition) and that passion swelled and is spilling to all the other parts. He is one of the kids you hope to keep in contact with.”

Virani, who is now attending Queens College and might major in finance, said he will continue attending the Lawrence board meetings. “If you don’t ask and won’t go that extra mile, you won’t understand what is happening,” he said.