Sarah Jane O’Connor, an eighth-grade student of Pelham Middle School, placed first in the “There Ought To Be A Law” contest held earlier this year.
O’Connor won for a proposal she wrote to the State that would mandate insurance coverage for basic hearing aids, according to an email from Assemblywoman Amy Paulin’s Office. O’Connor traveled to Albany to meet Paulin, and received a citation from her.
“It was a pleasure having her here today,” Paulin said. “I love the thought and care she put into her proposal and will do everything I can to see it become a law.”
In the email to New Rochelle Talk, Kevin Czerwinski, of Paulin’s Office, said that the assemblywoman has already drafted legislation mandating insurance coverage of hearing aids in response to O’Connor’s proposal.
Two seventh graders, of Tuckahoe, – Jack Doherty and Hayden Ehrenfeld – tied for second place in the contest. Ehrenfeld proposed a ban on neonicotinoids, a class of pesticides attributed to the decline in bee population. Paulin is a co-prime sponsor of legislation written by Assemblyman Steve Englebright, that prohibits the use of the chemicals atrazine, metalaxyl and the neonicotinoids class of chemicals, the email said.
The Assemblywoman will also draft a bill mandating school districts to protect athletic records, in response to Doherty’s proposed legislation to protect a student athletic records from being tampered with and altered, the release said.
James Nespole, an eighth grader, of Pelham, won third place for his proposal that would protect people who save children left unattended in hot vehicles, the email said. In response to Nespole’s proposal, Paulin will become a co-prime sponsor of legislation written by Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski, which grants immunity from civil liability to people who remove children from a hot motor vehicle.