Teen leaders honored for volunteer efforts

Forty-one teenagers took home Leadership Awards Monday night for unselfish acts ranging from fundraising for Make-A-Wish to teaching Bible classes to poor children in Latin America, coaching disabled kids and helping the homeless.

The winners made up the seventh Daily Herald Leadership Team, an annual honors program dedicated to teenagers who volunteer their time and energy to their schools and communities.

In all, 140 teens were nominated for the Leadership Team by 76 high schools around Northwest suburban Cook County, Lake County, DuPage County and the Fox Valley. Panels of judges in each region volunteered in November to select the winners.

Jim Arey, a longtime Elk Grove High School teacher and leader of the school's Public Service Practicum, was one of the 16 judges.

He came to Monday night's reception to meet some of the kids he helped select.

"The beautiful thing is developing that sense of civic virtue, and these kids have it," he declared.

Robert Y. Paddock Jr., vice chairman/executive vice president of Paddock Publications, encouraged the teenagers to continue volunteering throughout their lives.

"It's great working together to make the world a little bit better," he said, "and if you stay at it, you'll find it rewarding in many different ways."

One winner, Melanie Hoffman of Wheeling High School, said the tremendous success of her school's Make-A-Wish fundraiser two years ago convinced more kids to pitch in. As a result, there were more hands to share the workload, and a lot more money was raised, too.

Anokhi Patel, a senior at Lakes Community High School in Lake Villa, said the newness of her school meant that every club and organization had to be built from the ground up.

"A lot of kids got involved because the opportunities were there," she said.

Pat Burnham of Geneva, whose daughter Kate attends Elgin Academy, said her daughter has been involved in a variety of volunteer activities through high school. Not only that, but her work at Alden Court, an Alzheimer's facility, has inspired more teenagers to volunteer there, too.

Speaking for the Daily Herald, Managing Editor Madeleine Doubek told the teenagers and their parents that this team is a favorite endeavor of the newspaper.

"We take to heart this public service message that you embody here this evening," she said.