If Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi ever decides to give up politics (a highly unlikely scenario), he can be assured of a successful career in the classroom. Last Friday, Jan. 23, he paid a visit to the Manhasset Middle School seventh-graders and he kept his audience focused on his message and perched on the edge of their seats, eager to share in a dialog.

Social studies teacher Tom Gilroy introduced the county executive and explained how he happened to come to Manhasset. It seems seventh-grader Melissa Leelou wrote to him and asked questions about how to become a good citizen. Melissa's letter was so interesting that Mr. Suozzi decided to make a visit to her and her classmates. In his introduction, Mr. Gilroy told the students that the county executive had grown up in Glen Cove and attended Chaminade High School, where one of his teachers was Mr. Kenneth Dunn, now assistant principal at MHS. He went on to say that Mr. Suozzi had become mayor of Glen Cove, the youngest person ever to hold that position and then was elected Nassau County Executive, once again the youngest person to be elected to that position and the first Democrat in 30 years.

Mr. Suozzi told the students that in order to become good citizens, it is important to understand how government works. In response to his questions, the students all said that the president is George Bush; most of them knew that New York's governor is George Pataki and they all knew that Nassau's chief executive is Tom Suozzi. They did less well on identifying their congressman but they (most of them) knew their US senators.

Mr. Suozzi spoke to the children about the other branches of government, the legislative and the judiciary. He told the students that two elected officials who have a "big impact on your school district" are their state senator and their assemblyman--in Manhasset's case, Senator Michael Balboni and Assemblyman Tom DiNapoli.

Mr. Suozzi made the contrast between a state like Vermont that has 600,000 people and Nassau County, which has a population of 1.5 million and an annual budget of $2.2 billion. He told them about Nassau County's three towns (North Hempstead, Hempstead and Oyster Bay) and two cities (Glen Cove and Long Beach) and its 64 villages. "This is getting pretty boring," he remarked, but went on to tell the audience that none of the elected officials mentioned above run the school district. "That is the responsibility of your board of education. The best way to be a good citizen is to understand who is responsible."

A lively question-and-answer period followed. In response to a question "What got you into politics," County Executive Suozzi gave a moving response about his father. He told of how his father had been an immigrant from Italy as a boy. He came to Glen Cove, served with distinction in the United States Army in World War II and went to Harvard Law School on the G.I. Bill of Rights. Joseph Suozzi went on to be elected mayor of Glen Cove and then a judge of the New York State Supreme Court.

In response to a question about President Bush's State of the Union speech, Mr. Suozzi said that he had not heard it but knew that it was "more of the same." He said that while he respects and admires the president, he disagrees with him on a number of issues. "I disagree with him about his tax cuts and I don't think he has been as truthful as he could nave been about the reasons for our war with Iraq." He said that he supports Senator Joseph Liberman among the Democratic candidates for president.

Asked by one student if he likes his job, he replied, "Some days, like this one, I like it. It's a very important job to try to change things for the better. Some days it's frustrating." When the question was asked what he doesn't like about the job, he replied, "lots of times I'm out when I'd like to be home. I have three children and I don't see them as much as I'd like." When it was time for County Executive Suozzi to end his dialog with the students, they gave him a standing ovation.