County Board Honors Barrington High School Students for Extraordinary Volunteerism

By mary.paleologos at March 22, 2013 | 1:28 pm | Print

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and the Board of Commissioners Wednesday honored Barrington High School students for their extraordinary volunteering achievements.

President Preckwinkle presented a resolution commending the students for their dedication to improving the world through “ambitious and wide-ranging volunteering efforts.” Six student representatives and principal Steve McWilliams accepted the resolution on behalf of the school.

“Their volunteering efforts are remarkable,” said President Preckwinkle, a former high school teacher. “They developed a cheerleading program for children with Down syndrome and other special needs.  Student groups traveled to Joplin, Missouri twice to help in the tornado relief efforts there. They’ve raised an extraordinary amount of money for the American Cancer Society—and even worked to save a historic Barrington theater from closing its doors.”

Barrington High School students raised $700,000 for the American Cancer Society during its annual Relay for Life event. Students partnered with Gigi’s Playhouse, a Down Syndrome Awareness Center, and created a feature video that helped raised $245,000 at the center’s banquet. They also raised $12,000 for Walk on Farm, an equine therapy center that provides horseback riding for people with disabilities.

In the last school year, Barrington students volunteered more than 45,000 hours to benefit Children’s Memorial Hospital, ALS research, cancer research, hospice programs, Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital and United Way. In addition, they’ve worked to save lives through anti-bullying initiatives, suicide prevention efforts, distracted driving prevention efforts, and drug and alcohol abuse prevention efforts.

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