Fleiss and Pashkin Finalists in Rotary Leadership Program
Huntington High School sophomores Justin Fleiss and Marisa Pashkin are finalists in the Rotary Youth Leadership Award program. The pair has built impressive resumes, even at their relatively young ages.
Huntington officials evaluated 15 applications, before ultimately selecting Mr. Fleiss and Ms. Pashkin. Melanie Grossman and Collin Richardson were tapped as the runners-up.
A special leadership weekend will be hosted by the Rotary on March 25-27 at Camp DeWolfe in Wading River for all area finalists.
Mr. Fleiss has played on the baseball and golf teams, participated in the stage crew and served on the Huntington Youth Court board. He's also been a peer mentor.
"I would classify myself as a dominant leader," Mr. Fleiss wrote in his application. "I would do this because when a task needs to be done within a specific time frame, I have been able to motivate the people around me to complete the task."
Mr. Fleiss has served as the stage manager during his time with the stage crew. "A leader has to be a good public speaker," he wrote in his application. "Other people have to be able to trust the person. They should be able to make decisions that can help everyone. Also, they have to be confident enough to take charge of anything."
Ms. Pashkin has been a member of the color guard, stage crew, high school shared decision-making team and fencing team and is a cellist and chapter president of the United Synagogue Youth organization.
"Several qualities I believe a leader must have include the willingness to listen to others with an open mind, confidence in their own actions and abilities and understanding of the people and environment around them," Ms. Pashkin wrote in her application.
The two Huntington sophomores are excited to participate in the Rotary leadership initiative. "I believe this leadership program will help me as a leader because it will be an opportunity to work with other people who are also leaders and in control," Ms. Pashkin wrote. "I will learn how to work better with people who are also leaders in their communities and learn how to adapt my desires and styles when surrounded by others with the same drive."
Mr. Fleiss said he believes "that people could always use advising from others to help them become better leaders." The March conference will be a great opportunity because "you can see what other people's skills are like and you can learn from them and also help them if they need it," Mr. Fleiss said.
Rotary District 7260 began the special leadership program in 2002. The program is open to tenth graders. Local high schools can nominate two students as finalists.