Northeast High senior leads anti-drug campaign
During her final year at Northeast High School, 17-year-old Savannah Quick is doing everything in her power to guide peers away from drugs and alcohol.
“I really do care about everyone in this school regardless of whether I know them or not,” she said.
Her latest anti-drug endeavor is aiding a pilot program called Living the Example launched this year in four schools around Anne Arundel County including Northeast. The student-run drug prevention program encourages teens to educate peers about choosing a healthy lifestyle over drugs and alcohol.
Savannah has been instrumental in spearheading the new healthy-living initiative alongside a handful of fellow seniors. The group reached out to sports teams and clubs around the school to organize a Christmas-themed event at Northeast on Dec. 1 dubbed Miracle on Duvall Highway.
Students set up activity stations — arts and crafts, games, sports and dance — aimed at educating youth about healthy lifestyle options for relieving stress. Students Against Destructive Decisions, or SADD, also distributed information about preventing drug use.
Living the Example was introduced to Northeast seniors about six weeks ago with the end goal of organizing a family-friendly event to “promote healthy alternatives to drug and alcohol abuse,” Savannah said.
Sergio Chaves, a program coordinator for Mentor Foundation USA’s Living the Example, called the event a “really great start.”
Northeast’s science department chair and SADD mentor Tully Fenner nominated Savannah to help implement the new program.
He selected her for Living the Example because, “She is always willing to contribute her time and ideas toward improving the health and wellness of our students and community here at Northeast High School.”
Fenner said Savannah is “an excellent example of a student leader” who has been instrumental in organizing SADD-sponsored events such as Red Ribbon Week and Tobacco Free Kids week.
Savannah met Fenner freshman year when she became involved with SADD. As a communications officer, she has helped the club grow from a handful of students to more than 50.
“We recruit all the time especially to the younger classmen since (seniors) are about to leave,” she said.
Savannah became passionate about drugprevention clubs after learning about the drug epidemic ravaging her community. During a SADD-sponsored presentation freshman year, the Anne Arundel County Not My Child campaign held a schoolwide assembly at Northeast to raise awareness about drug abuse in the community.
Although Savannah had heard of the opioid epidemic prior to the presentation, she wasn’t fully aware of its severity. As someone who finds truth in numbers, the statistics presented during the event were eye-opening.
During the presentation, the speaker displayed a map of Anne Arundel County depicting where overdoses were occurring most frequently; Savannah was surprised to see Pasadena at the epicenter of the diagram.
“Seeing how much it affected the community is what brought me on board and I was like, ‘I need to do something about this,’ ” she said.
After the assembly, she made a conscious effort to join drug prevention clubs at her school.
Savannah also felt ripple effects from the death of upperclassman Josh Pack during her freshman year. Killed in an automobile accident by a drunk driver, she says Pack’s premature death has had a lasting impact on the Northeast community.
Of the seven school clubs Savannah is involved with, all of them are focused on helping others.
“I’ve always wanted to help my community in any way I could,” she said.
As a member of National Honor Society and Spanish Honor Society, Savannah volunteers to tutor peers in subjects ranging from math to foreign language.
She was also elected into the county leadership program Chesapeake Regional Association of Student Councils, where she initiates improvements and activities for the overall good of county students.
Principal Jason Williams appreciates Savannah’s efforts to improve Northeast. He said, “She works hard to make our school a better place and she is a great advocate for our student body.”
With a heavy course load her junior year, namely five AP and two honors courses, Savannah says she started to feel pressured. To relieve stress, she began participating in obstacle races and joined Northeast’s track and field team throwing shot and disc.
At the end of last year she had earned a 4.46 grade-point average.
“My standard for myself is A or nothing,” she said.
Savannah has applied to four colleges including Pennsylvania State and Virginia Commonwealth Universities. She plans to study forensic science because she’s fascinated by cells and molecular biology.
As always, the impetus behind her career path is the desire to “help others.” Capital Gazette is honoring Wendi Winters’ legacy by continuing the Teen of the Week feature. Winters was one of five Capital Gazette employees killed in the June 28, 2018, attack on the newsroom. Capital Gazette reporters and community correspondents will carry on her legacy, bringing you teens from all over the county each week. To nominate a teen for consideration, email jdebutts@capgaznews.com.