Teen starts clubs at Barrington High to help her fellow students
One Friday a month, students at Barrington High School start their day with free muffin. Later this week, they will find their hallways decorated for Valentine's Day.
Both projects are carried out by a little-known group of students who work behind the scenes to orchestrate simple acts that brighten their classmates' days. They call themselves the “Nerdly Birds,” and senior Courtney Griffin of Inverness is one of them.
Griffin was featured as part of the Daily Herald's Leadership Team last month, but her accomplishments merited more than a small profile, said one of the judges.
“I was amazed at some of their stories,” said James Kane, a Daily Herald local news editor for the Northwest suburbs. “The reality is that we can only devote a few inches to them in print, but many of them could justify a longer profile.”
Griffin was one of them. What struck the judges was her role in leading the anti-suicide movement at Barrington High School in the wake of losing five teens over the last three years.
Griffin and a friend met with community leaders and staff members at her school to create the group HERE, Help, Encouragement, Resources and Education. Its first project of organizing a benefit concert drew the nationally known rock group Smash Mouth, as well as local bands. Attendees filled both sides of the football stadium.
But it is her less prominent efforts of working as a mentor, tutor and leader among her peers that drives Griffin.
Like her work with the Nerdly Birds, Griffin goes about these roles quietly, but she hopes they make an impact.
“We don't want to advertise ourselves,” Griffin says. “It's not about getting our names out there.”
One of her most rewarding experiences is a group called COLTS, which matches upperclassmen as mentors with freshmen over the course of the entire school year.
“We're able to bond with the freshmen and relate to them on a deeper basis,” Griffin says.
Griffin reaches students on a deeper basis through her work with groups like COLTS, HERE and the IT campaign, which is an all-school fundraiser for a local charity, which ultimately can affect change.
Jill Bauer, the volunteer coordinator at Barrington High School, says through Griffin's efforts, an important dialogue has opened up between students and staff, and that mental health issues are at the forefront of the discussion.
“All of Courtney's work with these different organizations has been aimed at improving the overall school culture,” Bauer says, “and she has never lost sight of that vision.”
The free muffins and valentines are just one example.
“You never know when the Birds will strike,” Bauer adds, “bringing smiles to students and staff alike.”