As most students meander their way into a quiet school on a Wednesday morning late-start, lively music filters in through the freshman cafeteria and bounces off the walls. Smiles light up on the faces of energized juniors and seniors, their excitement palpable as they prepare to kick off the current Interact meeting on a positive note.
Interact is a student run service club that volunteers in the Glenview Community and works with many different organizations. A total of 200 juniors and seniors meet every other Wednesday to discuss ways to support Glenview and surrounding communities, senior Jimmy Korompilas III, Interact Community Outreach and Rotary Liason, said.
“A lot of [Interact] is based on volunteer participation,” Korompilas said. “[Interact is] trying to make sure that we can get a lot of people to help with [since those events] are the ones that will probably stick.”
One event is the Snow Angels Club, where Interact volunteers shovel elderly people’s houses throughout the winter. It is very rewarding because the elderly are so grateful, senior Mae Mae Kuhn, Interact Snow Angels coordinator, said. Another event Interact hosts is Paint-a-Thon, where students get together to paint a house for Glenview families in need.
“We take a lot of things for granted so being able to help others out and see the impact it makes on them truly does light up the mood,” Kuhn said. “When [they] come outside and have a wide smile on their face after our help it [shows we made] a true difference.”
A key part in Interact being student-run is its senior board, Jeffrey Kurian, Interact Sponsor, said. The senior board is in charge of numerous aspects of the club, taking the lead in reaching out to locations where the group volunteers, but one of the most time consuming parts is conducting interviews for the junior board, Kurian explained.
“The senior board also conducts interviews with the sponsors for the junior board, which starts during the second semester and the junior board helps run the club,” Kurian said. “[The junior board learns] what to do from the senior board and then slowly take over the roles of the seniors.”
Interact’s ultimate goal is to continue expanding, ensuring that they can make an even greater impact on the Glenview community, Kurian said. Therefore Interact needs more volunteers so more events can occur, Kurian said.
“I wanted to make sure every population that’s living in Glenview [needing] volunteer service can get help,” said Kurian. “So, [to] expand more, I want to find more locations that we can help out within the area.”
The club is deeply committed to its mission of helping as many people and organizations as possible, and the members are succeeding in this effort, Korompilas III said.
“We want to continue to get more and more engagement from the students so that we can continue to do as much as possible,” Korompilas III said.
