Awesome Club volunteers are Making a Difference

St. Olaf College students who volunteered with the Awesome Club at Northfield High School (NHS) during the 2012-13 school year received the Healthy Community Initiative “Making a Difference” Award for July 2013. The award celebrates those groups and individuals in the community who have a positive influence on Northfield youth.

The Awesome Club was founded three years ago by a then-St. Olaf student, Natalie Davis, as a social skills club for high school students with autism. This year, about 16 high school students and about half a dozen college volunteers met weekly after school to play games and spend time together. Through the sale of lollipops, the group members raised money to buy T-shirts and have a bowling party.

“The friendships that are developed are the core of what makes this club so wonderful,” said NHS teacher Lisa Weis, the group’s adviser. “Many other things develop along the way – conversation skills, leadership roles, and greater understanding of each other and ourselves.”

Weis thanked the St. Olaf volunteers for being amazing and loyal, and she also expressed her thanks to the members for making the club so great.

“The Awesome Club always energizes me, no matter what kind of day I have had or what is going on – I always feel better after hanging out at Awesome Club and watching the friendships grow,” she said.

- Submitted by Joy Riggs, HCI Board member and freelance journalist

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The Healthy Community Initiative and the Northfield News present the Making a Difference Award cooperatively. If you know an individual or group that you would like to nominate for this award, CLICK HERE for nomination guidelines and the easy-to-complete application or find HCI on Facebook.  Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis and are selected by a review team of HCI board members and local youth.