On May 15, 2018, the annual vote for the positions on the Lindenhurst Board of Education positions was held.  All positions were run for unopposed except for one, and this was a very peculiar case. This case was Gabrielle Anzalone, a senior at the Lindenhurst Senior High school, who decided to run for on the board of education. 

In every school district throughout New York, there is a board of education. The job of the board of education is to determine how the budget of the district is used throughout the school year. In order to run for a position, you must be a minimum of 18 years old as well as live in Lindenhurst. If you meet these two qualifications, you are eligible to run. Normally, it is mature adults, with stable jobs and children within the district who run. Since Gabrielle is still only a few weeks from graduating, she can be considered an outlier in the group of people who run for positions. When election day for these positions arrive, all registered voters are allowed to vote.

Gabrielle is currently a senior at the Lindenhurst Senior High School, who has taken many AP courses and is in the honors program. She decided to run for an open position on the board which was recently opened up after Edward Murphy stepped down from the Board of Education. Her opponent was Josephine Martino, 44, making Gabrielle the only candidate for the board who was opposed.

Gabrielle’s story for running for the board goes all the way back to March of 2018. She, along with May Vine, began to organize the national school walkout day for Lindenhurst. The main purpose of this walkout, kick started by the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, was to encourage change addressing gun violence within America’s schools as well as all over the country in general. Gabrielle and May attempted to make contact with administration and the district but did not get very far. Ultimately,  due to the inability of Gabrielle and May to get in touch with the district efficiently, the walkout wasn’t as successful as they thought it could have been. It was at this moment that Gabrielle first began to realize how little communication the students of Lindenhurst have with the board of education, administration, and the district in general.

However, this was not the sole cause for Gabrielle running. She also received recommendations from her close friends as well as family that she would make a great candidate for the board of education. Gabrielle also noticed that there were other issues in the district such as proper access to certain materials and planning. All of these factors led to Gabrielle creating her own campaign and quickly elevating to eligibility for a position on the board of education. Although her campaign began later than most, she still managed to rally up a huge group of supporters in favor of Gabrielle. Despite facing lashback from some people within the district and outside the district, she persisted onwards to election day. The final result? Gabrielle received a total of 747 votes, and her opposition, Josephine, received 1036. While this seems like a huge difference in votes, the actual difference is determined by finding the number of voters between the two candidates and dividing it by two, which means Gabrielle only lost by 145 votes, a very impressive achievement.

Gabrielle will be attending Molloy College and will major in political science. She isn’t entirely sure if she will run for the board of education again, but she knows that she will be aiming for higher office positions. In an interview with her AP World History teacher, Mr. Ditomasso, he stated, “I think she is a bright and talented young lady who is a great role model for younger students. I think she can serve to inspire more young people to get involved in the political process. I think she has a bright future ahead of her and these experiences from running will benefit her greatly in her later life.” Gabrielle left this message for the CST, which states, “Most people normally say they don’t care about politics, but if you have morals, wants, or goals, then you should care about politics. It is up to you to take the initiative to vote for a positive change, as your actions of today impact tomorrow.”