Jordana Boxer Captures Essay Contest Award

Count Jordana Boxer as among those who yearn for a return to providing late buses (and even early buses) in Huntington UFSD. They were once a staple of school life, but significant cost factors and a current lack of a sufficient supply of drivers makes their reinstatement seemingly out of the question anytime soon. Still, the Huntington High School sophomore wrote an award winning essay on the importance of such transportation.

Ms. Boxer captured third place in this year’s Celebration of Suburban Diversity student essay contest sponsored by Bethpage Federal Credit Union in collaboration with the National Center for Suburban Studies at Hofstra University.

“Your essay demonstrated your knowledge, keen observations and interpretation of issues surrounding diversity on Long Island,” wrote Lawrence Levy, executive dean at Hofstra, in a letter to Ms. Boxer. The third place award carries with it a $1,000 stipend

“Extracurriculars are an important part of school,” Ms. Boxer wrote in her essay. “They allow students to get involved in things they are interested in and provide a way for individual students to excel. Extracurriculars allow students to grow, and can give a student a leg-up when applying to colleges.”

The teenager went on to make the case for early morning and late afternoon transportation.

“Most extracurricular activities take place before or after school,” Ms. Boxer wrote. “This can pose a challenge to those without access to transportation. At Huntington’s Finley Middle School, there are many before school activities. These programs include symphonic band, honors orchestra and the robotics team. There is no early morning busing to Finley. Without transportation provided by the district, these programs do not reflect the racial and socio-economic diversity of the school.”

Ms. Boxer and her family has been invited to the Celebration of Suburban Diversity awards ceremony on Tuesday, November 28, 2023 at 6 p.m. at Crest Hollow Country Club.

“A significant majority of the students at Finley, 65.6 percent, are from minority backgrounds, and 60 percent of the students are economically disadvantaged,” Ms. Boxer wrote. “When I was a student at Finley, I was a member of the honors orchestra. My parents drove me to school early, but many of my friends were unable to join this group even though they were outstanding musicians and performers. They were excluded from honors orchestra and other honors offerings because they could not get a ride to school. Their parents were unavailable because they had to be at work early in the morning, and some of their parents didn’t even have vehicles of their own. A majority of the students in the honors orchestra were white, even though this population makes up only 34.4 percent of the student body.”

The Huntington teenager said that the Pew Research Center found “a large majority of people who depend on public transportation come from Black or Hispanic backgrounds. When applied to schools, the data is similar, Black and Hispanic students are the population that relies most heavily on district transportation. When busing is not provided for before school activities, minority students often have a harder time attending.”

The statistics cited by Ms. Boxer were attributed to “US News & World Report. “At Finley, I was also a member of the robotics team,” she said. “This team met before school, leading to the same lack of diversity as seen in other school programs. Now I am an officer on the Huntington High School robotics team. One of my goals is to make the high school robotics team more diverse. I have been pursuing this by ensuring that our team is 100 percent free for all members. Ability to pay does not limit participation. Our team provides merchandise and dinner to all members free of charge. These efforts have led to an increase in the team’s diversity. Many of our alumni have gone on to be computer science or engineering majors in college, often the first generation in their families to obtain a college degree. By making our robotics team accessible to all, we have helped more women and individuals from minority backgrounds enter into a field that is dominated by white men.”

The articulate teenager impressed the essay contest judges, who awarded her third place honors.

“In conclusion, when measures are not taken to ensure diversity in school programs, individuals from minority backgrounds suffer,” wrote Ms. Boxer, summing up her essay. “And, I believe that everyone loses out because of their absence.”