Frewsburg High School Junior Landon Frederes gives an update Thursday to the District Board of Education about his iCivics experience. P-J photo by Michael Zabrodsky

FREWSBURG – For Landon Frederes, civics is not just about politics.

“It is about servicing your community and being the best community member that you can be,” Frederes said.

Frederes, a junior at the Frewsburg middle/high school, participated in an iCivics Youth Fellowship, and gave a presentation Thursday and updated the Frewsburg Central School District Board of Education on his experience.
 Frederes said iCivics is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering civic engagement and learning, especially in areas where it may be lacking. It was founded in 2009 by the late Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. The organization has multiple resources for classrooms to promote civically-inclined activities for youth.

He attended bi-weekly meetings on Sundays from 7 to 9 p.m. from September to the middle of May. He was one of 34 fellows from across the United States where about 350 to 360 applied for the current cycle. He recently attended an iCivics event in Washington, D.C.

“I learned how to become more civically engaged myself, and to encourage others to do the same,” Frederes added.

He noted that during his meetings, the power of the media, the Electoral College, and how opinions on those topics can influence others.

“A large part of our fellowship was dedicated to spreading non-biased, informative media that will further our democracy and the people who are voting in it,” Frederes said.

He told board members that the high school would be better suited if a civics class was offered, even as an elective.

“My opinion is that we should have a civics class to help us better understand our rights as Americans, and what our right to vote means, and how we can help foster our democracy. So a civics class is not the only way we can help preach civic engagement, we can also place a higher emphasis on the seal of civic readiness as a high school,” Frederes said.

In other business, a public hearing was held to review the district’s code of conduct, and school safety plan.

Interim Superintendent Lynda Quick said that changes for the 2026-27 code of conduct include the addition of detailed information on Dignity for all Students (DASA) violations, and the addition of a discipline matrix which includes a list of infractions with each infraction having consequences based on the level of offense, and a clear delineation of offenses that are reportable under the New York State Education Department’s school safety and education climate survey.

Changes to the safety plan for the 2026-2027 school year include the addition of cardiac emergency response procedures, and the location of automated external defibrillators, and the identification of AED-certified personnel. The plan also will include updates of names and contact information.

For more information on the plans visit frewsburgcsd.org or call 716-569-7041. Both plans are scheduled to be adopted in July.