The Prior Lake High School Junior Optimist Club participates in service projects throughout the community. Photos: Prior Lake High School Junior Optimist Club
The Prior Lake High School Junior Optimist Club is the world’s largest.
Confirmation came from the Junior Optimist Club International conference held this July in St. Louis, Missouri: Prior Lake High School (PLHS) is indeed home to the world’s largest Junior Optimist Club.
PLHS’s club boasts a membership of more than 300 students. A typical school’s membership is about 30 students.
The Junior Optimist International Club’s calling is to “use a passion for making a difference to reach out to other people wishing to make a difference too.” PLHS’s club is definitely making a difference—locally and internationally.
“We do about 100 service projects per year,” says PLHS Junior Optimist Club president Gabrielle Thompson. “That averages out to about two per week.”
The membership requirement is to commit to two hours service time per quarter and eight hours per school year. “We have a lot of members who do 50 to 60 hours per year,” Thompson says. “Last year, we had one member donate 120 hours.”
Advisor Dan Steger is only mildly surprised. “When I started, I thought we’d have to motivate the students, but we’ve never had to,” Steger says. “We provide an opportunity, and they’ve come at it full blast.”
It gives him hope for the future. “Gen Zers are an idealistic bunch,” he says. “They don’t just talk the talk; they roll up their sleeves and go to work.”
PLHS Junior Optimist Club members are regulars at Feed My Starving Children, serve meals for Catholic Charities and help/contribute to the Ronald McDonald House.
They’ll dress up as Disney princes and princesses for the annual Daddy/Daughter dance, and they’ll cheer runners and award medals at the local 5K. Members make a lot of tie blankets and write and send greeting cards to long-term care residents.
Additionally, members held a bake sale for Ukrainian refugees and collected and sent books to Africa. “It’s really cool to touch people that far away,” Thompson says.
There was a time when program advisors started/recommended the service projects. That time is no more. “The kids bring the projects forward,” Steger says. “Once that started, it snowballed.”
Thompson has been a Junior Optimist Club member since ninth grade. “The Junior Optimist Club helped me become the person I am today,” she says. “I can’t imagine what it’s like to not be involved.”
Thompson attended the Junior Optimist International conference in July. When asked for her biggest takeaway, she talks of leadership discussions. “One speaker talked about the difference between fitting in and belonging,” she says. “I get it.”
Thompson has belonged to the club since her start. As club president, she hopes her clubmates feel the same way about this growing student group. The club picked up more than 20 students last summer, making the world’s largest Junior Optimist Club even larger.
Prior Lake High School Junior Optimist Club
Facebook: Friends of PLHS Junior Optimists
Instagram: @pl_junioroptimist
