Huntington High School’s Natural Helpers are more important than ever as the building faces its thirteenth month of dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Natural Helpers have all been chosen to serve in a very special role by their classmates, who see them as loyal and compassionate and able to keep personal matters confidential.
“Natural Helpers is made up of a group of students who have been voted by their peers and are seen as trustworthy, kind, and overall good people,” said Ryan Aguirre, who serves as the organization’s president along with Sarah Giarraputo and Angelica Hernandez. Aaron Chin is the group’s secretary.
“They are the type of people who can turn a bad day into a good one,” said Ryan Aguirre earlier this year. “Every year we have a retreat where we train the Naturals on how to develop better listening skills and how to address different situations. We are here to help all the students at Huntington High School, no matter how great the problem.”
In recent months, Natural Helpers have been working to keep spirits up around the high school, which is no easy task as the COVID-19 public health crisis continues.
Natural Helpers are worth their proverbial weight in gold. They spring into action whenever a fellow student needs a special friend to help them work through personal and family issues or assorted challenges. They know how to listen and how to help classmates who sometimes feel completely alone or even desperate. Natural Helpers know how to put situations in proper perspective and offer support and assistance when it is needed the most.
“Luckily we’ve been able to keep up with our monthly Thank You boards for the staff to continue to show our appreciation for them,” Mr. Aguirre said. “On top of that, we put little four leaf clovers around the halls with positive messages to inspire students around St. Patrick’s Day. Recently we were able to do another little in-school field trip with the Life Skills students this past week, which was set up by two wonderful Natural Helpers, Teddi Carnesi and Kianna Criscuola. It was so much fun and we got to make butterflies with them and just enjoy the warm spring weather outside.”
Planning is underway for a possible spring retreat, which is traditionally held in the early fall, but which was indefinitely postponed due to COVID-19 limitations.
“Unfortunately it is hard for us to have new members join us this year, but we hope that next year we can get more people involved in the club and make it stronger and better than ever,” Mr. Aguirre said.
For more information about the Natural Helpers program contact faculty advisor Robert Gilmor III at rgilmor@hufsd.edu.