Synergy students accomplish much

May 25—Clinton High School Synergy students this school year raised thousands of dollars for charity, created a book exchange, established a social media consulting business, built and delivered beds, preserved history, aired a podcast and more.

The mission of the Synergy program, in its sixth year, is to collaborate with businesses and non-profits in the Clinton area to solve problems with innovative solutions. These are some of their accomplishments this year.

Synergy opened the year by introducing the public to their proposed initiatives and raising money for Information, Referral and Assistance Service. They brought in more than $10,000.

On the history front, Damien Sanchez and Bradley Shumake did foundational work for a veterans memorial at the Clinton High School. They poured over Clinton Public Library materials and newspaper archives to build a database of service members killed or missing in action who had attended CHS. It includes soldiers from World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

"We did investigate the possibility of Clinton High School alumni being killed in the wars in the Middle East," Shumake said. "Thankfully, there have been no Clinton casualties in any of those wars."

Clinton Public Library Special Collections Associate Jeanne Nitz provided key help, including loading research onto a drive that sped up research significantly, Shumake said.

"This class is a tough but rewarding experience that you couldn't really get with the traditional classes in high school," Sanchez said. "I was able to actually feel proud and on top of the world about overcoming some obstacle that was blocking progress on a project that I wanted to do."

They expected to wrap up their research by the end of May and turn it over for use by future Synergy students and community groups.

"We intend to share this information with the V.F.W., Amvets, and the Clinton County Veterans Affairs," Shumake said. "The main purpose of this research is to provide information for a future group of Synergy students, to use this database to create a memorial of sorts to honor those who attended Clinton High that gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country."

In other projects, Sanchez also helped market Synergy, including making and posting bios of Synergy members. Shumake also job-shadowed at the Clinton County Sheriff's Department.

Aiden Adkins, looking to lend a hand to local museums, interned at the Sawmill Museum, an unpaid position two days a week. It was a unique opportunity, he said, noting how he researched and provided upkeep for many historical artifacts.

"Normally, people in the museum field don't get internships until after several years of college, but I had just gotten one while I was still in high school," he said. "Nearly a full school year later, and the benefits from this experience will show for the rest of my life."

Arie Russell has been active with the Duke Slater scholarship and statue project. The football field at the University of Iowa's Kinnick Stadium. A Clinton High School graduate, he starred for the Hawkeyes football team from 1918-21, and then played professionally, finally becoming a lawyer and eventually a Superior Court judge in Illinois.

Along with her work on the project committee, she researched and developed biographies for Slater and Ken Ploen, a Clinton graduate who quarterbacked the Hawkeyes to their first Big Ten title and victory in the 1957 Rose Bowl. Those are now on display in the high school with their portraits.

She also is a content creator for Vibe Beauty Bar.

During Marcus Steen's first year in Synergy, he took the lead in facilitating the creation of murals at the LumberKings stadium and Clinton National Bank. In his second year with Synergy, he created a podcast that has received more then 2,000 impressions on Spotify.

"I wanted to amplify my impact through the power of storytelling and digital media," said Steen. "Hosting a weekly podcast became my platform for creating meaningful dialogue and connection, with 26 episodes and counting, featuring insightful conversations and welcoming seven special guests/partners. Despite encountering technical challenges along the way, I took on each obstacle as an opportunity for growth, teaching myself to navigate podcast equipment and editing software with resilience."

He collaborated with Brady Jennings on many podcasts, with sports being among their biggest topics.

Jennings' major project, however, was Synergy branding.

"I created polos and business cards for Synergy members," he said. "That being my first project, I didn't know where to go after. I pursued multiple projects that fell through, so I helped out with my classmates' projects and with smaller ones to help Synergy as a whole. Overall, Synergy taught me perseverance and the ability to recuperate when something, whether it be a project or an initiative, goes astray."

He's been working with Clinton Community School District head groundskeeper Tony Kirk on making a prairie walk at the Middle School and Whittier Elementary.

He also helped Clinton Trees Forever with planting and wrote up an introduction for the 1947 Clinton High football team.

Mallory Bradley and Ella Sander-Welzien developed the Royalty Rack, the creation of Plarn (which is cutting plastic bags and crocheting them into bed mats and tote bags), and the organization of events for the Clinton High School Library.

The goal of the Royalty Rack was to "create a welcome, open environment for students to be able to get dresses, dress shirts, ties, casual clothing and shoes.

The pair partnered with Mrs. Missy of the Renaissance Retail Boutique for the Royalty Rack, Nitz for Plarn at the Clinton Public Library, and Linda Smithson at the high school's library. Some dresses were obtained for students to wear to prom.

For the Plarn project, they established cutting days every third Saturday each month to cut, fold and tie the bags to make them available for crocheting. National Honors Society members have been among the helpers.

The pair's initiative to encourage students to make more use of the library, led to the creation of Read a Latte days, where students can drink coffee, read and discuss books. Attendance was in the 15-20 students range.

Quinn Nielsen said she struggled in her first few projects, but then turned toward beautification of the Clinton Athletic Complex.

"The Beautification Project has taught me to adapt to a new role, she said. " I took on this project with Julia Suessmith. We didn't know anything about flowers coming into this so we had to get information from others who are professionals in flowers."

They found help from Kirk and Master Gardeners Andrea Witt and Bev Christiansen. They also procured a grant from Home Depot.

'Our goal is to have the flowers planted at the athletic complex by the end of May," she said.

Suessmith and Synergy classmate Mia Tubbs also partnered with Sleep in Heavenly Peace to increase the charity's volunteer numbers to get more beds built for homes in the community.

"Collaborating with Sleep in Heavenly Peace to build beds and deliver them has allowed me to know I really am making a difference in someone's life," Suesssmith said.

In March, they reached out to the Clinton football team to help with bed building in Camanche. They made 30 beds, according to Synergy's social media.

Suessmith and Tibbs partnered with Shalyn Mueller, head of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, and Roy Shaft, Camanche High School industrial tech teacher.

Tubbs also organized the first Great Whittier Book Exchange. It took months of meetings, conversations and book collecting. She gathered about 1,000 books and she made laminated bookmarks for the kids, each of whom took home 2-3 books. She partnered with the Whittier librarians and the school's PTA.

Alex Tucker and Quinn Nielsen started work on a welcome sign for the high school, which will be passed off to next year's Synergy students. She also created social media content for the high school's girls soccer team and a local band, "Staff Infection."

Shelsy Aguilar and Brooklyn Grams wanted to work on something involving social media, and initially focused on leading marketing workshops for Clinton small business owners.

"After attempting to arrange this sort of workshop, [we] decided this type of event would be too unpredictable as far as the level of experience that our guests would be learning as opposed to their prior knowledge," Grams said.

Then they met with Stacy Brooks, chief executive officer of cybersecurity company SKB Cyber in Peoria, Ill.

"She has not only been our mentor throughout this school year, but has also redirected us to a path of success," Grams said.

The pair developed a social media consulting business called S&B Social.

"In January 2024, we started getting customers, and our services were growing," Aguilar said. "Our services consist of posting on social media platforms for businesses that either don't have enough time or skills to do so themselves. We shape their platforms to fit their brand in order to reach their target demographics. We are hoping to build a portfolio during the next few months so we can continue to expand our business after high school."

Thomas Naughton worked with the Athletic Booster Club to increase membership and donations. He created a pamphlet for people touring the high school. It included historic places of interest in the school. He also volunteered at the food and beverage festival at the Sawmill Museum.

Toward the end of the year, the Synergy students taught middle school students about the program, encouraging them to join.

Ella Sander-Welzien said she would recommend that students join Synergy.

"This class is rewarding and a unique experience," she said. "It gives you the freedom to work on a passion project that you want to do while earning a class credit. I would recommend this class to other students because it doesn't give you a normal class setting."

In Synergy, you get to be involved in your community and doing work you might not otherwise do, she said.

"It also builds on some employability skills that you don't work much on in school," she said. "The class gets you out of your comfort zone. It builds on those skills where you lack and even the ones you're strong at."