It is always amazing to see how students get involved in projects they believe in. Cleft Palate is a deformity to the mouth and is something one is born with. It prevents people from eating and speaking properly and can scar appearances for the rest of one's life. Children with cleft palate will have difficulty staying in school and maintaining a job, and in third world countries the problem isn't that children are born with a cleft palate, but that they do not have sufficient money to pay for the surgery.

The Smile Train Organization helps raise money to train doctors in third world countries so that these children can get the life they deserve. It costs $250 and is only a 45-minute surgery. Students Cynthia Hochberg, Ashley Langer and Holden Berman have chosen to promote the Smile Train Organization and raise public awareness. By visiting the Smile Train's website (www.smiletrain.org) they gained more information about cleft palates and the children suffering from it around the world. These students are going to be competing at the state level of the DECA competition in March in Rochester. DECA is an association of marketing students and is the largest club in the school containing over 200 members. Hochberg, Langer and Berman will be competing in the Public Relations campaign where the goal is to raise awareness in their community.

To promote public awareness they have been promoting the Smile Train in school and having numerous fundraisers. The three students took part in Plainview Old Bethpage's Craft Fair by handing out fliers with information on the Smile Train and selling chocolate and flowers. In school, they have gone to the marketing classes showing a video of Smile Train and giving out bracelets to the students. On Smile Day, all freshman classes received a Smile sticker in the first period to wear, showing their support of the Smile Train. Their biggest fundraiser has been selling lollipops at school to raise as much money as possible, which will all be donated to the Smile Train.