After more than 100 hours of instruction, physical challenges and many guest speakers, 84 students graduated from the rigorous Leadership and Law Academy here at Pine Bush High School on Friday, July 18.
This academy is a partnership between the district, the Town of Crawford Police Department and the US Army. Students learned from a variety of instructors and guest speakers, coming from various industries, law enforcement agencies, the school district and government.
In addition to their full-day workload centered on law, economics and government, many of the students who attended the academy came early to work out before the day began.
The keynote speaker at the graduation was Orange County Executive Steven M. Neuhaus. He encouraged the students to be their own person and have their own lives. “The most important thing is to be happy,” he said.
He talked about having balance in life, to have fun and not just work. He suggested hiking, biking, reading, crocheting – whatever they need to bring balance into their lives.
He also gave them a piece of advice – never quit. “You’ve had bad days and you’ve failed at things. But don’t quit,” Neuhaus said. He talked about Harry Potter author JK Rowling and Walt Disney, who were rejected repeatedly before their genius was recognized.
Principal Aaron Hopmayer thanked the parents and guardians for entrusting their young adults to the academy. “We pushed them physically and mentally,” he said. “There are no participation trophies here. They earned this opportunity to be here today and it’s a big deal.”
He went on to say that the academy has been in existence for 23 years and graduated thousands of students. He expects great things from these students.
“You did something special this summer,” Hopmayer told the graduates. “You will make this high school a better place. These kids made all of us super proud.”
2025 Law and Leadership Graduates
- Macayla Abreu
- Griffyn Alfalla
- Lamar Alila
- Hailey Balkissoon
- Olivia Belofski
- Jayla Breland
- Grant Brown
- Darryl Byrne
- Alanna Christie
- Keisy Contreras-Martinez
- Kayla Craigwell
- Ethan Decker
- Ashley Delgado
- Alexa DeVito
- Nolen Di Cataldo-Ciofalo
- Brayden Diefenbach
- Jasmine Dunn
- Emmanuel Essien
- Elisea Essien
- Robeanna Fontana
- Noah Freestone
- Julianne Gabriele
- Kevin Garcia Ramirez
- Samuel Gibson
- Kyle Howell
- Jackson Hujus
- Ghade Ibrahim
- Sheldon (Tyler) Ingalls
- Natalia Jablonski
- Marcus Jones
- Malaika Khan
- Andrew Kreeger
- Julio Lema
- Kaiden Lothrop
- Evan Maldonado
- Jonathan Mansu
- Emily Marcano
- Kory McCombs
- Aidan McQueen
- Sofia McSweeney
- Hailey Mejia Monroy
- Elyse Mentro
- Madelline Monahan
- Sean Mora
- Jude Mosen
- Walter Muller
- Maya Newberns
- Cailey Noviello
- George Nye
- Faron Parker
- Jared Patterson
- Marisa Perez-Mari
- Makenna Peters
- Nicholas Pitt
- Kiera Raymond
- Daniel Rector
- Caileigh Regan
- Lismar Rios
- Mahala Robinson
- Jedidiah Rose
- Angus Russell
- Logan Sarmiento
- Daniel Sassi
- Abriel Sierra
- Iyana Steinard
- Thais Tabares
- Owen Terranova
- Jadyn Theodore
- Hunter Thompson
- Michael Thompson
- Christopher Turcotte-O’Dell
- Sophia VanSickle
- Amir Vazquez
- Jace Veaz
- Brooke Veaz
- Jack Vero
- Leah Waterman
- Matthew Webster
- Kiara Williams
- Harrison Winter
- Kara Wittenberg
- Shane Woznick
- Gianna Zughbieh
- Maria Zuniga