SOLON — Solon Intermediate School (SIS) 4th grade teacher Samantha “Sami” McAtee knows a thing or two about serving the community and “giving back.” As a Solon High School student, she was a member of the Octagon Club – a Junior Optimist International (JOI) group with over 15,500 members in over 600 communities who work to promote a positive change.
“I love service projects, I used to do a lot with local churches, and I’ve been missing that,” she said. McAtee was approached last year about leading a new group of younger Optimists, an Alpha Club. 54 SIS kids signed up and hit the ground running to try and make a difference in their community. “We’ve been doing a lot of service (projects),” she said. For example, the SIS Alphas held a food drive and did a bingo night to raise awareness of cystic fibrosis and funds for an affected student.
This school year the ranks have swelled to 103 members. “I didn’t know we’d have so many kids involved this year, so it’s been a lot to manage but it’s awesome that there are so many who want to be involved,” she said.
For her work with the Alpha Club, McAtee was presented with the Solon Optimist Club’s 2023 Achievement in Education Award last Wednesday by 1st Vice-President and Lt. Governor for the Iowa District Karen McFarland.
“Every year the Optimist Club gives an award to a person, and it is listed as, ‘The Optimist Club of Solon for the Achievement in Education Award’,” McFarland explained to an art room full of 4th graders and the 5th grade Alphas. She noted the SIS Alpha Club is the largest of its kind in the state of Iowa, and she’s hoping to grow it even further. “We’ve talked with Lakeview Elementary, and we’re looking forward to starting with the third graders (who will move to SIS when the expansion project is complete), and we also want to start a first-and-second grade club so it goes all the way throughout the school district.”” Solon would then be unique with Junior Optimist clubs at all levels from elementary through high school. She explained the Optimist Club’s interest in Solon’s youth. “The Optimists are for the youth of the world. We raise money that goes to the youth. All of the money that we raise (through events such as the Beef Days Bingo Tent and Avenue of Flags) goes to the youth of Solon.”
Melissa Holtz, SIS Principal said of McAtee’s award “I think it is amazing. Sami is always one of the first ones to volunteer her services and support, and having that connection for her from high school, I think she has had a passion. We really wanted to offer students a chance for leadership and also to support their community, and I think it’s a great opportunity for both.”
And the serving continues. The SIS Alphas are currently holding another food drive, “The Souper Bowl of Caring,” as part of a national effort to fight hunger and poverty held annually around the Super Bowl football game. McAtee explained “They raise money and talk about hunger in America, and so many people watch the big football game, they talk about how if every person watching donated a dollar or a can of food it could feed over three million people.” The project is about building that awareness and giving back to the community, she said. Club members visited the Solon Community Food Pantry last year and will do so again this year. “A lot of them don’t even know it exists,” she said, “or what it does. In a town like Solon where a lot of people are very fortunate, I don’t think people realize how many families actually use the pantry so it’s just cool to bring awareness to that.”
SIS Principal Melissa Holtz (at left) reacts as Karen McFarland, 1st Vice-President of the solon Optimist Club, presents the 2023 Achievement in Education Award to SIS teacher Sami McAtee. McAtee is the leader for the school’s Optimists Alpha Club, the largest in the state of Iowa.