More than 1,000 local business people, community leaders, government officials, as well as 10 MacArthur High School Science Research and AP Environmental Science students and future leaders, attended this year's Long Island Smart Growth Summit on Friday, December 1st, at the Crest Hollow Country Club.

The event, organized by Vision Long Island, featured 20 workshops and over 100 speakers, discussing topics related, but not limited to, housing redevelopment, environmental issues, downtown revitalization, and infrastructure (energy, water, waste) investment. Local Mayors, county-wide elected officials, town officials, and state senators discussed pressing issues, recent successes and future plans. The students (Allyssa Aquino, Renee Aquino, Emily Cavanaugh, Sara Duda, Danielle Herrera, Daniel Islam, Catherine Purirojejananon, Niketa Shukla, and Paul Siegel), along with Dr. Friedman and Mr. Zausin, engaged in question and answer sessions and learned much about current local issues.

"This experience as a whole was very enlightening, and I am glad that Dr. Friedman and Mr. Zausin gave me the opportunity to be a part of and listen to these critical discussions. I was able to walk out of the LI Growth Summit with a new awareness of the conversations and arguments that occur between the esteemed panel of speakers regarding which changes and legislations each of these individuals have pushed for the betterment of Long Island." - Renee Aquino

"Being a part of the LI Growth Summit allowed me to understand the true problems occurring on Long Island and what ideas are being implemented into specific towns and villages to combat these issues." - Emily Cavanaugh