Barberton High student raises money, awareness for Special Olympics

Kaylynn Greathouse, who will be a senior at Barberton High School, took off with a civic engagement project and ultimately helped send Barberton students to the Special Olympics.
Barberton High student raises money, awareness for Special Olympics.

SUBMITTED BY JAY AUSTIN
Barberton High teacher

When Kaylynn Greathouse transferred to Barberton High School from Ravenna, she didn’t realize how much of an impact she would make in her junior year.
After state testing, her U.S. government teacher assigned a three-week project on the topic of Civic Engagement. The project had three phases: research, volunteerism, and presentation.
KG, as she goes by, immediately took her project in a different direction. Her goal was to plan a Field Day for her peers and have a kickball tournament at Rudy Sharkey Stadium.
She drafted a plan, met with administrators, proposed the plan to her government teacher, and made the plan a reality.
After making posters to put up around the school, creating and selling tickets, and writing a research paper, KG and her peers spent the afternoon of May 10 on the turf playing kickball.
“Sometimes kids just need to be kids,” said Greathouse, when asked what her motivation was for choosing this as her civic engagement topic. “With the day-to-day grind of high school, we need a little break every once in a while.”
The best part of all, she decided to donate the profit of ticket sales to send Barberton students to the Special Olympics. Her efforts allowed her to donate $370 to a worthy cause. Her commitment and dedication not only to the Civic Engagement Project but also to her peers is admirable.