Left to right: Needham Business Representative, Maureen Fromm from Viridian Energy, Sarah Breitbart Frischling, November RAY Recipient, Katy Colthart, Clinician at Youth Services.
Sarah is a senior at Needham High School. She started as an intern at The Needham Channel in May of 2011 at the age of thirteen, and then quickly became a weekly volunteer for the Thursday night newscasts. Over the years she has learned to do every technical job there. She was nominated by Needham Channel News Producer, Ashley Julier.
At the Needham Channel she made a short “Did You Know?” segment on Obsessive Compulsive Disorder for OCD Awareness Week. This segment was important to Sarah because she, herself, suffers from OCD. It has affected her since she was just two years old. “I am very scared of germs, dirt, marker, and basically anything that can get me dirty or ‘contaminate’ me” acknowledged Sarah. In fourth grade she started wearing long-sleeved sweatshirts to protect her arms and hands from the dirty, germy world. These types of behaviors restricted Sarah for many years. In eighth grade she discovered that it was possible to work to overcome OCD, although is a very long and hard journey. After years of cognitive behavioral therapy, Sarah was able to wear a short-sleeved t-shirt to school at the beginning of her junior year. As Sarah states, “This may not seem like a big thing to most of you, but for someone with contamination OCD, it was huge.”
Find out what's happening in Needhamfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Since then, Sarah has continued to fight her obsessive thoughts and wear t-shirts if she chooses. She is no longer limited to wearing sweatshirts all the time. Later in her junior year, Sarah spoke out about her battle with OCD to the entire Needham High School community (1700 students and 200 faculty and staff) at the Own Your Peace-Piece Speak Out Assembly. She continues to work hard to share her journey and help others with their fight against OCD.
In addition to her volunteer work at The Needham Channel, Sarah is a Co-Producer of the Needham High School News and the Media Manager for the NHS all-girl’s robotics team, the HackHers. She is part of the Needham High School Tech Crew (for theatrical productions) and helps with the lighting and audio for NHS performances. She is also a member of the National Honor Society, and tutors students in math and science.
Find out what's happening in Needhamfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Watch the ceremony honoring Sarah at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoguXJKhkkM
For more information please visit www.needhamma.gov/youth/ray
