Superintendent's Spotlight: Leila Thurber

Warwick Valley High School senior Leila Thurber has spent her four years in high school building an impressive record of service, leadership, and academic achievement. Now in her second year as president of the Interact Club—a high school club that works closely with Warwick Rotary and other organizations on service-oriented projects—Leila’s passion for making a difference shines through her wide-reaching involvement. Most recently, Leila has demonstrated her initiative and leadership in spearheading the Keepers of the Reef campaign, an ongoing effort that champions both environmental and humanitarian causes!

A perennial Honor Roll student, Leila also serves the community through her membership in the National Honor Society, further demonstrating a deep dedication to helping others. Leila and her peers in the Interact Club (advised by WVHS teacher Jeanine Fogler) lead projects that address local and global needs by raising awareness and resources through everything from food drives to environmental advocacy. Leila has been a member since her freshman year. For Leila, community service is much more than a graduation requirement.

“I want to go to school for nursing, so I think my passion for caring for others and helping people, making people feel comfortable, definitely has a big part in why I joined,” she shared. “I really wanted to be involved in something where I could help people and actually make a difference. Interact just seemed like the right place for that.”

A pivotal moment in Leila’s service journey came during her sophomore year, when she met Dr. Roseanne Esposito, founder and executive director of Hilltop Communities, at a Warwick Rotary event. Their initial connection soon grew as Dr. Esposito began attending more Interact Club meetings and Leila found herself increasingly inspired by her work.

“When Miss Roseanne started coming to more of our Interact meetings, I was, like, wow, I am really interested in what she’s doing, and I really want to be more a part of it, to see what I can do.”

As Leila and Dr. Esposito began communicating regularly, Leila gained a deeper understanding of the challenges children and families face in Sandy Bay and across the Bay Islands of Honduras, particularly the availability of educational resources and the environmental devastation caused by plastic pollution. Leila was moved to see the impact.

“We saw pictures of how dirty and damaged their living environment has become because of all the plastic and everything that’s taken over the water,” Leila said. “You could just see how their home life is dying, and that made us realize we really wanted to do something about this.”

Motivated to act, Leila brought together a small group of students to launch the initiative, which began with the idea of reducing plastic waste and raising awareness of how plastic affects our oceans and marine life, especially animals like sea turtles.

“We have a mascot—Tommy the Turtle—this little stuffed animal that we bring around and take pictures with,” Leila said. “That gets posted on our Instagram to promote our group.”

The group of eight students met at Hilltop Communities to brainstorm and came up with the name Keepers of the Reef. With a core campaign focused on reducing single-use plastics and protecting marine ecosystems, Keepers of the Reef also encourages peers to think intentionally about their daily choices and their impact on the environment. Through ongoing pledge drives and bottle collection efforts, Keepers of the Reef has inspired other students to join the cause, and Leila loves how her peers have stepped up and taken action alongside her.

Madison, a fellow founding member, became the first student last year to collect pledges representing more than 100 plastic bottles. It was not only an impressive milestone, but it was also proof that their efforts were inspiring real change throughout the school community. Keepers of the Reef stands out not only for its environmental mission but also for its humanitarian focus. By addressing both ocean health—specifically surrounding the Mesoamerican Reef—and the well-being of affected coastal communities alongside Hilltop Communities and PATH, the initiative is equally environmental and humanitarian.

One of Leila’s proudest achievements was organizing the first international video call between Warwick’s Interact Club and students in Roatán in the Bay Islands of Honduras. As the first student to set up such a connection between the two school systems, Leila helped foster a sense of global community and understanding.

“We actually did a video chat call with the students down there,” Leila explained. “It was really cool and interesting to see their school life compared to ours. They were interested in seeing everything we have, and they asked us all kinds of questions, even like what types of music we listen to, stuff like that.”

The connection between Warwick Valley students and the students and communities in the Bay Islands is an important part of what Keepers of the Reef is becoming. Connecting directly with peers living near the reef helped shift the initiative's focus. Rather than protecting a distant ocean in abstract terms, Warwick students realized they could listen to, learn from, and directly support the real conservation work PATH leaders and local organizations were already doing on the ground, such as beach cleanups and environmental education.

“Interact has given us a great place to begin, and in working with PATH we’ve realized that we can create even more opportunities for other students to participate, taking on leadership roles and finding ways to contribute to the cause.”

Last year, Leila’s dedication and impact earned her the Interact Club Service Award, a distinction given to students who demonstrate outstanding commitment to service. The honor reflected her leadership in launching Keepers of the Reef and her initiative in organizing the international call, along with all her tireless work for the club she loves. It was a meaningful acknowledgment of Leila's efforts to connect her community with others and inspire her peers to take action, and had her reflecting on one of the biggest lessons she’s learned through her experinces so far.

“Leadership doesn’t always mean starting with a huge idea,” she said. “Sometimes you start with one small thing that you can do, then you meet people who help you see an even bigger possibility, and that leads to creating even more opportunities for other people to be part of it.”

Looking ahead, Leila remains focused on expanding the group’s reach beyond Interact members to involve students across all grade levels and student government, while advocating for dedicated faculty guidance to keep the initiative growing after graduation. She said that the next steps for this early part of the school year are all about getting the word out.

“We’re looking into creating a bulletin board or taking over some display space in the high school to introduce Keepers of the Reef to those who don’t already know who we are,” Leila said. “We want to raise awareness, raise funds, and always create more opportunities for students to get involved.”

Leila demonstrates how thoughtful leadership and a willingness to take initiative can make real, lasting impacts. Her efforts at the high school continue to encourage her fellow students to get engaged and support building strong communities through advocacy and action.

She wants everyone to know that Keepers of the Reef has an active Instagram page where they promote their upcoming Keepers events and projects.

“We’ll definitely have sign-ups for kids to join and get involved!”