Jacob’s Ladder Junior Board Provides Area Teens with Volunteer Opportunity

Jacob’s Ladder Junior Board Provides Area Teens with Volunteer Opportunity

Started in 2007, the Jacob’s Ladder Junior Board of Directors has been a rotating cast of teens from area schools who have a passion for helping others, especially children. The Junior Board aides Jacob’s Ladder in its mission to provide families in Northwest Indiana with quality services to empower them to help their child reach his/her maximum potential. The original sponsor of the Junior Board was Kathy Kniola, but the current director is Cindy Withrow.

“When the Junior Board originally began in 2007, Mrs. Kniola had a daughter that was a junior in high school, and my oldest son Jeremiah was also a junior,” Withrow explained. “He was on that first board, and when that class of teens graduated, the board fell by the wayside.”

Around 2010, Withrow’s daughter Grace asked her mom to bring back the Junior Board, and it has been operating since then with around 16 students each year.

“When Grace was a freshman, she wanted to bring the Junior Board back because she thought that what her brother got to do was awesome, and she wanted that chance,” Withrow said. “This would have been the start off the 2010-2011 school year. Since then, the board has continued with students from at least three schools each year.”

Right now, most students involved in the program are from Valparaiso and Chesterton High Schools, with a few from Hobart, Michigan City, and Boone Grove sprinkled in.

“We really would love teens from more high schools,” Withrow said. “Any teen that is kind, patient, unselfish, compassionate, and enjoys helping others, but especially children, would be a great fit for our Junior Board.”

The Junior Board is heavily involved in planning different activities for the children who attend Jacob’s Ladder, and activities are spaced throughout the year. Many activities are for the children specifically, but others benefit the parents and the families as a whole. The most recent event planned by the Junior Board was a Christmas party. There, children and their siblings played games and other activities with the Junior Board members, and families got to take their picture with Santa. Each activity was staffed by one or more Junior Board member, so volunteering with Jacob’s Ladder is truly a hands-on event. Many other family-oriented activities will be coming up as there are currently events for spring holidays in their planning stages.

“Some of the future events include our annual Mother’s Day appreciation banquet,” Withrow explained, “as well as the Spring Fling to celebrate spring, where volunteers will help our kids plant flowers in decorated pots. We will also make tie dye shirts or pillow cases and other things to highlight the change of the season. We will have a family night organized at local businesses with teens available to help with our patients and siblings to ensure that the entire family can really enjoy the night. As far as activities go, we plan on having a beach day, a baseball game, and a bike outing.”

Many of the students currently involved in the Junior Board of Directors are seniors and will be going their separate ways come fall. Teens who are interested in volunteering and who enjoy working with children are encouraged to learn more at www.jacobskids.org or email Withrow at cwithrow@jacobskids.org.