MONROE — The Monroe High School Junior Optimist Club is an organization where students are able to dedicate their time to serving their community. One of the club’s biggest goals is to serve their community.
As of this school year, there are 60 students in Junior Optimist. Within the last three years the students have volunteered more than 2,300 hours.
Katie Lehto, science teacher at Monroe High School, volunteered to be the club advisor because she wanted to be a part of something more. Since then, she has continued to help the students grow.
“It’s nice to be a part of making the world a better place, you know in your corner of it,” Lehto said. “You can’t make everything better but you can improve little bits then the world will get better. It’s nice to be a part of the good fight.”
The students volunteer their time by participating in activities that serve their community throughout the school year. Some of these activities include Prom for Pennies, food drives, tech help at the senior center, and helping with breakfast at the American Legion.
Prom for Pennies is the biggest fundraising Junior Optimist event of the year. The students call local dress shops asking for dresses, and they sell them for no more than $40. The club has donated about $23,000 to the Jacob’s SWAG Foundation since 2012. The club considers this their biggest achievement.
“Everything we have done is great because the kids have done it, they have stepped up,” Lehto said.
The Jacob’s SWAG Foundation was started by Teri and Kurt Ellefson. The foundation provides mental health services to schools and communities.
Another service event that the students participate in is volunteering at the senior center to help the senior citizens with their tech and to answer any questions they have. This is the Lehto’s favorite event because the students can “be useful to the generation that came before them.”
The club also has member development programs. Some of which include two $250 scholarships given to seniors. Some others are the district conference and officers retreat. At this event, four club members discuss Optimist activities at their schools and brainstorm new ones.
Another event is the international convention where the students travel to Arlington, Virginia from July 1-5. There they learn how to better serve their communities.
“They’re not doing it because they’re told to do it, they’re doing it because they want to do it,” Lehto said.
The club has social events where they go and do fun things together. This includes them going to a haunted forest and pumpkin patch. They also have a club Thanksgiving where they have a potluck and hangout.
Members of the club volunteer at the concession stands during basketball season. The profits go towards senior scholarships and funding the international convention.
They also have awareness campaigns. One is their open house booth and course evaluation night that helps to gain new members. A majority of members are recruited at these two events. Graduating club seniors are given a yard sign to congratulate them on graduating. They also show the students achievements and advertise for future members of junior optimist.
Some other service events are the Thanksgiving food drive. Students organized the food drive and 450 pounds of non-perishable food. They donated the food to the local food pantry.
Junior Optimist also joined with the National Honors Society, Key Club, FBLA, and FFA to make 850 Christmas cards for the Monroe Woman’s Club to give to local nursing homes and hospitals.
The next Junior Optimist event will be Prom for Pennies on Jan. 14. Last year, the club volunteered 250 hours, sold 114 dresses, and fund-raised over $4,000.
