Way to Go: Great Neck student Aliza Hassine
Aliza Neuman Hassine believes prison can change people for the better.
Hassine, a senior at North Shore Hebrew Academy High School in Great Neck, spent last summer relaying data about educational opportunities to people transitioning from prison life back into society through College Initiative, a Manhattan nonprofit.
Based on her volunteer efforts, she was one of eight students statewide named a distinguished finalist earlier this month in the 2010 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards.
"This is an overlooked area of society," Hassine, 17, said of prison inmates. "Not everyone in jail is bad. Some were in a wrong place at a wrong time."
She volunteered at College Initiative for nine weeks and responded to about 500 letters from state inmates asking primarily about school opportunities. She also logged more than 1,000 letters from inmates into a central database. "When they get out of prison, they're looking for some guidance," said Hassine, who aspires to become a lawyer.
Hassine is editor-in-chief of her school newspaper and president of the peer drug program. She also is a member of the National Honor Society, Headmaster's Council, Model United Nations team and debate team.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
Out East with Doug Geed: Wine harvests, a fish market, baked treats and poinsettias NewsdayTV's Doug Geed visits two wineries and a fish market, and then it's time for holiday cheer, with a visit to a bakery and poinsettia greenhouses.
