New Barrington Coalition Praises Youth Success

Find the good and praise it.  That's the motto of Nicholas Sauer, chairman of the brand new Say YES! to Youth Success: Barrington coalition.

Say YES! is a youth success awareness campaign that was organized by the Lake County After School Coalition in 2005.  The campaign has been present in several Lake County Communities for the past five years and was introduced in Barrington this summer. 

The coalition accepts nominations for middle- and high school-aged students who are doing exemplary things, and honors them for their achievements.

Sauer said success can be defined in many ways. 

"It's not necessarily redefining success, but saying to kids, we all have unique success stories," he said. "You're all striving for success—let's give you an opportunity to highlight that. "

Sauer and his committee of 10 Barrington area residents will be accepting nominations on the Say YES! website until Oct. 1.

"What we're doing is asking people, business owners, churches, schools, parents and community members to nominate students," Sauer said.  "Whether they're doing an art project, working in a soup kitchen, volunteering with the elderly or doing an internship, everybody's successful in a unique way."

The committee will evaluate the nominations early next month, and select five to 10 students that stand out from the rest.  The selected group will be praised in the community the week of Oct. 16. 

 "We're just trying to highlight some of the things kids do, because they should be celebrated," Sauer said. "And that's really the essence of this is to celebrate kids and all of the wonderful things that middle school and high school aged students are doing."

To nominate a student, go to www.sy2ysbarrington.org.