Thursday, July 10, 2025
In a year-long exploration of civic engagement, Oceanside High School’s newly credit-bearing Integrated Global Citizenship elective program culminated this spring in a student-driven initiative called “Build a Better Oceanside.”
Over the course of the year, 10th and 11th grade students partnered with local historians, and community leaders at the Oceanside Library to research pressing global issues—mental health stigma, educational equity, water scarcity, and homelessness—and translate their findings into actionable, locally-focused proposals.
The “Build a Better Oceanside” project challenged students to investigate local issues and propose innovative solutions deeply.
The project was a collaborative effort between the English and social studies departments, designed to help students develop critical research, communication, and problem-solving skills.
“We wanted students to understand that they can make a real difference in their community,” said social studies teacher Deanna Confredo, one of the program’s teachers.
The course aligns with the New York State “Profile of a Graduate”—a set of state-adopted competencies including effective communication, collaboration, global citizenship, and novel problem-solving.
“We built the project with those skills in mind,” said Confredo, co-designer of the curriculum. “Besides content, we wanted transferable skills: research, writing emails to professionals, and public speaking.”
This academic year also marked the pilot for making the elective credit-bearing.
“The integrated program has existed since at least 2012,” Confredo noted, “but this is the first time it earns a separate grade.”
Over the summer, Oceanside’s social studies and English departments rebranded the course to better highlight its civic-learning priorities under the “Global Citizenship” title. Students like Emma Matijevic, Louis Saglembeni, Dylan Long, and Sam O’Brian explored complex topics ranging from mental health stigmas to water scarcity and housing inequality.
The project began with a series of guided historical tours led by Richie Woods, a former Oceanside High School teacher and local historian.
Students retraced the town’s storied past, visiting landmarks they pass every day without realizing their significance. From the Towers funeral home, once owned by a celebrated actress, to the hill beside School Six where early settlers were buried, Woods’s guided narratives deepened the students’ connection to their community and sparked the questions that would drive their projects.
“I didn’t know that there was so much history like in Oceanside,” said Matijevic.
Students conducted extensive research, interviewed local experts, and developed comprehensive presentations about pressing local issues.
“If we all just cooperate and talk about what the problems are, and come together to fix those problems, Oceanside would be a better place,” said Saglembeni, who studied equal access to education.
Once grounded in local history and armed with debate skills, students formed four project groups to tackle distinct issues:
Mental-Health Stigma—Emma Matijevic:
After researching comparative school-based support, Emma’s group interviewed the school’s psychologists to understand the evolution of mental-health services.
“Back in the ’70s, it wasn’t normalized to talk about your feelings,” Emma noted.
Their solution called for expanded peer-support councils, enhanced counselor availability, and community awareness campaigns.
Educational Equity —Louis Saglembeni:
Saglembeni’s team contrasted past “sink-or-swim” approaches, as recounted by Woods, with current support programs. They interviewed Principal Brendon Mitchell about new funding for special-education resources. “Now…OSD has so many programs to help students, so they won’t get left behind,” Saglembeni explained.
Water Scarcity —Dylan Long:
Focusing on local lawn-watering practices, Long discovered that residential landscaping accounted for major water waste.
“So many people were unwittingly damaging the environment,” he said.
The group proposed incentives for drought-resistant native plantings and community workshops on sustainable landscaping.
Homelessness & Health Inequality —Sam O’Brian:
O’Brian’s team worked with the Long Island Housing Association and spoke with Ian Wilder about the forthcoming Common Housing Act. “It’s just more affordable housing,” O’Brian said, advocating for municipal investment in low-income housing and integrated health services.
The 11th graders returned to mentor the current 10th-grade class. Monthly workshops at the Oceanside Library saw seniors coaching underclassmen on argumentation, research methods, and presentation skills.
“It was kind of surreal being on the other side,” said Long, who guided his peers through practice debates and presentation cues. “Last year we were the ones being judged…now we were the ones having to provide insights.”
The project’s culmination is a collaborative “brick wall” display set to be exhibited at the Oceanside Library, featuring students’ research, quotes, and proposed solutions. Each “brick” represents a different approach to addressing community challenges.
“We all have our own impact on the world around us and our community,” said Long, who researched water scarcity. “No single person can solve an issue alone, but we can all help in our own small way.”
By weaving local history, interdisciplinary research, and public-presentation practice into one cohesive experience, Oceanside High School’s Integrated Global Citizenship elective not only engaged students with tangible community issues but also empowered them as lifelong learners and civic actors.
When asked how the community might continue its momentum, the students urged deeper empathy and engagement.
“If people just listened to someone talk about how they feel…you could grow relationships in the community,” Matijevic said, recommending normalizing open conversations.
Saglembeni stressed cooperation.
“If we all just cooperate and talk about the problems, we can fix them together,” Saglembeni said.
