Pictured above, left  to right: Paige Viera of Lancaster, Alex Fultz of Kenmore East, Brooke Meehan of Maryvale, Arisha Roberts of Amherst, Maria Ta of Kenmore East, Vinko Pavlovic of Cleveland Hill, Abbey Braun and Paige Kelschenbach from Mt. St. Mary High School and Connor Frascatore of Grand Island.

High school seniors enrolled in the Erie 1 BOCES Legal Academy attended the State of the State address on Wednesday, Jan. 4 at the invitation of Sam Hoyt, senior vice president for Regional Economic Development at the Empire State Development Corporation.  Abbey Braun and Paige Kelschenbach, both from Mount Saint Mary Academy, were among the attendees. The students, who attend Erie 1 BOCES in a cooperative program supported by six local school districts and one non-public high school, were the representatives of western New York high school students at the annual event.

In the early morning of Jan. 4, the students boarded a train bound for Albany and returned later that night. For many of the students it was their first trip to the state capital. In addition to experiencing the annual speech provided by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the class interacted with other state agencies while they were in Albany including a meeting with State Trooper Robin Benzinger.

"Our students were certainly excited but also grateful for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity provided by Governor Andrew Cuomo and Sam Hoyt," said Donald A. Ogilvie, district superintendent and chief executive officer of Erie 1 BOCES.

Erie 1 BOCES Legal Academy,  taught by Dr. Wendy Fischer and located on the campus of  Medaille College, allows highly motivated, academically strong, college-bound high school seniors the opportunity to work on-site with law-related professionals while earning four hours of high school credit in government, economics, criminal justice, along with internship field experience.

As part of the public education model, Erie 1 BOCES offers more than 25 career and technical programs to high school students in Erie County. High school students interested in learning more about how they can participate in various regional programs such as the Legal Academy, computer networking and health careers during their normal school day should visit http://www.e1b.org/cte or speak with their high school counselor.