In an era filled with news stories about high school aged students facing violence and increasing reports of self-harm, Quwiyya Folaji knew she wanted to help keep her fellow high schoolers safe.
So Quwiyya joined Stagg High School’s Sandy Hook Promise’s SAVE Promise Club as a way to spread the word about how violence was affecting students, and how to prevent it. The school has a “Say Something” program where students watch a video made by club members about how to recognize signs of potential violence and how to step up and tell an adult.
They also make banners urging their peers to say something and invite first responders to events to share resources with students, said Quwiyya, junior at the school in Palos Hills. And they have a Trusted Adult Tuesday table for lunch periods during a special SAVE week, where they fill out cards for teachers and staff to hang outside teachers’ doors. Club members have also made Valentine’s Day cards for residents in a retirement community and gotten special needs students in their school involved in that endeavor as a way to spread goodwill.
But Quwiyya took her quest to help out one step further after being chosen for Sandy Hook Promise’s National Youth Advisory Board, which is made up of students from SAVE Promise Clubs. This summer she had the chance to visit Washington, D.C., to advocate for violence prevention legislation as one of 12 ambassadors.
There she experienced Hill Day, where she and other board members met congressional staff to support the STOP School Violence grant. She and other board members, along with Stagg SAVE advisor Erin Wendt trained, did team-building and advocacy, attended workshops and heard about one another’s experiences with violence or self-harm in schools.
During the Washington events, a student from another school said she had a friend who had struggled with depression and thoughts of suicide. If she had known the signs (of possible mental illness) and programs, the friend could have helped her sooner, recounted Quwiyya.
“I’ve always been really involved with the community,” said Quwiyya, who is also on the school’s Student Council, the Superintendent and Principal Advisory Group and volunteers with Stagg Ambassadors.
She said that desire made her appreciate “the stories of the (Sandy Hook) parents’ tragedy and how they wanted to come together as a community and stop this nationwide violence but also build community and relationships.”
She said Stagg did a great job of bringing awareness to the struggle through Sandy Hook Promise and its club.
“I definitely feel safer going to a school where “Say Something” is advertised and trusted adults are everywhere,” she said, adding the diversity of students helped bring them together.
Wendt got involved with Sandy Hook Promise at Stagg a decade ago, along with then fellow teacher Mary Patt Carr, who is now the school’s director of safety and security, after receiving an email from parents who lost children in the Sandy Hook tragedy. Wendt began running the club a few years ago and it now has dozens of members.
“Being not only a teacher but a new parent and watching the news about what happened in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012, it was really my personal call to action that we could make a difference,” Wendt said. “I was just devastated to see that happen in a first grade classroom.
“As a teacher, I was like, how can I protect my students?”
She said Quwiyya was an important part of the mission.
“Recognizing her strong leadership skills and passion for creating positive change, I encouraged her to apply for the Sandy Hook Promise National Youth Advisory Board,” Wendt said in a news release. “Her exceptional character and commitment make her an invaluable asset not only to Stagg High School but also to the broader mission of Sandy Hook Promise.”
Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
