Senator Flanagan Visits East Setauket School

Senator John Flanagan (2nd Senate District) recently visited the 5^th grade class of Arrowhead Elementary School to help the students prepare for their upcoming social studies test.  The visit was arranged by Ms. Lorraine Hegarty, a teacher at the East Setauket school, to provide students with an opportunity to learn first-hand about Senator Flanagan’s work and to give them a better understanding of New York State Government.

After opening with a quick summary of the inner-workings of the State Senate and a discussion of some of the important issues facing New York State, Senator Flanagan conducted a mock session with the students playing the role of senators and assemblymembers to give them a sense of how a bill becomes a law.

In this exercise, Senator Flanagan played the role of governor and the 5^th graders took turns discussing the merits of two pieces of legislation before taking a vote on the proposed new laws.  This allowed them to experience what Senator Flanagan and his colleagues do in Albany during session and illustrated the legislative process from beginning to end.

After the mock session, Senator Flanagan answered the student’s questions about a wide-range of state issues.

            "Bringing state government to the students I represent is a great honor and something I look forward to every school year.  The student’s participation and enthusiasm made this a lot of fun and I hope the students enjoyed our time together.  I thank Ms. Hegarty and the entire staff of Arrowhead Elementary School for hosting this visit and wish all the children the best of luck on their upcoming test,” stated Senator Flanagan.