Kaitlin Edquist is LaPorteCountyLife.com's #1StudentNWI representative at La Porte High School. Every month, Kaitlin will provide a column or feature story highlighting a variety of positive aspects at her school. For her first story, Kaitlin wrote about the girl Reserves, a large program at LPHS that has been around for nearly a century and is the last remaining like program in the nation. LaPorteCountyLife.com is seeking a #1StudentNWI representative at South Central, La Lumiere, La Crosse, Marquette Catholic, New Prairie and Westville high schools. Click here for a full description of the position.
On September 15, more than 200 La Porte High School girls could be found in the high school’s cafeteria. They weren’t there to eat, though. They instead met for a Girl Reserves meeting.
Girl Reserves, or “GR,” as it is more commonly known, is a community service group composed of high school-aged girls. It began at La Porte High School in the 1920's and remains the last existing GR group in the nation.
“The purpose of this club is to help young girls’ self-esteem, and this year we are really emphasizing the strength, health, and independence of women,” said club sponsor Ingrid Voelker.
Sue Beres, Sonshine Troche, and Cindy Biernacki, all female leaders in the community, spoke to the girls at the meeting about their respective organizations: Girls on the Run, Worthy Recovery, Inc. and Operation Christmas Child. As the meeting concluded, the girls were invited to take shoe boxes with them to get started on their Operation Christmas Child mission.
At each meeting, a prize is given to the girl who had performed the most service hours during the month prior. Junior Samantha Behenna was awarded the first prize of the year for her incredible number of service hours during the summer.
“My favorite thing about volunteering is being able to get out there and experience how wonderful people can be,” she said. “It’s all about helping people.”
But Girl Reserves does even more than just provide opportunities to help others and give back to the community. Sophomore Seraphina Tucker shared she decided to join GR "because I like to volunteer, and I think life-long memories can be made by joining clubs.”
The sisterhood of LPHS Girl Reserves has an enduring impact on its members. Senior cabinet member Mia Pedretti offered her favorite part of the club: “I love the fact that I’ve been able to make friendships with girls that I would have never met without being in GR.”
It’s truly amazing what can happen when a dedicated group of young women join forces to help the community and each other.
Voelker in particular is excited to see what the girls can accomplish this year.
“As in the previous 89 years LPHS Girl Reserves has been assisting with community service, the commitment continues,” she said.