St. Edward students help foster children

Student assemblies at St. Edward Catholic High School typically are for pep rallies, substance abuse prevention talks and the occasional music show, but Thursday's was an unusual one - and it had a special effect on sophomore Emily Wagh.

"It definitely has inspired me," Emily said of the call to action to help children in foster care. "Everyone can do a little bit to help."

Her friend Anaih De Leon agreed. "Some people don't have the opportunity to have the things we have, and it inspired me to do whatever I can to help."

The Elgin school's assembly unveiled a new, schoolwide initiative, largely led by students, to take part in service projects.

The first one took place in September with a collection of more than 1,700 items - backpacks, notebooks, pens, pencils and more - donated to Youth Services Bureau of Illinois Valley.

The staff of the school newspaper, The Edge, collected the supplies from fellow students and enrolled the help of businesses in Elgin, where they dropped off collection boxes. Seniors Kyle Brown and Cecilia Kochanek, the newspaper's co-editors in chief, said they were delighted at the response.

"I think it was a big success based on everything we collected," Brown said.

Youth Services Bureau, based in Ottawa, serves more than 3,000 children and families in 20 counties in north central Illinois. Executive Director Frank Vonch addressed the students when he picked up the donations Thursday.

"Everybody who used their time and their talents for this activity made a difference," he said.

The service projects' initiative took shape after the students read the book "I Beat the Odds," which tells of former NFL player Michael Oher's journey from homelessness to professional football, for St. Edward's "One Book, One School" summer reading program. Once they got back to school, many were inspired to take action, English department chairwoman AnnMarie Woj said.

"They really wanted to take this on and they worked hard," she said. "We have done random service projects before, but the plan now is that every year we will be doing a summer reading book that will incorporate service projects."

Other service projects that have kicked off involve students who are mentoring at-risk and foster students at Illinois Park School, and knitting and stuffing Christmas stockings for Youth Services Bureau.

"All of this makes your realize how lucky you are," sophomore Brianalynne Schreurs said. "And it does make me want to help foster children."