LYNN — Students in the city heard from lawyers, judges, and government officials about the field of law Monday. Schools across the district have been participating in Law Day, which is celebrated nationwide, for more than a decade, Lynn Law Day Chairman and attorney James J. Carrigan said.
This year, Carrigan said that 23 schools and 24 lawyers participated. The success of Law Day wouldn’t have been possible without Interim Superintendent Debra Ruggiero and Designated Superintendent Evonne Alvarez, he said.
“We’ve been doing this program for a long time, but you need to get permission from the superintendent every year. I explained what we were doing and they hopped right on,” Carrigan said.
Another integral person for Law Day in Lynn was Greater Lynn Bar Association President and attorney Mary Ann Calnan, Carrigan said.
Once the principals were on board, the speakers were connected with the schools.
“I think it’s disruptive sometimes to the school schedule, but in spite of that they do it anyway,” Carrigan said. “And I think we’re all rewarded by it because I think the kids learn some things.”
This year at Thurgood Marshall Middle School, Judge Stacey Fortes and Junee Barber, a second-year law student at the University of Maryland, spoke. Barber found the motivation to become a lawyer in the sixth grade, when she heard Fortes speak at Marshall Middle School in 2010.
“That’s an example of the possible impact the lawyers can have, or the judges, when they speak to the kids,” Carrigan said.
Fortes told the students Monday that “no dream is too big.”
“If you work hard, you can be anything, and it doesn’t have to be as a lawyer or a judge, it can be anything,” she said. “A police officer, a teacher, nurse, anything you want to be. I just want you to remember that.”
Attorney Thomas Demakis spoke at Callahan Elementary School and told Carrigan that he had a great time.
Attorney AJ Capano spoke at St. Mary’s and Cobbett Elementary School. He had a “very intellectual” discussion with the students at Cobbett, he told Carrigan.
“The kids engaged and he was talking about serious issues before society today, so that’s one thing that stood out,” Carrigan said.
The kids this year, and every year, are curious, polite, and humorous, he said. Carrigan said Law Day is an inspirational day for them.
The rest of the speakers for Law Day 2023 can be seen below:
