Someone You Should Know: High Schooler Courtney Griffin
(CBS) -- Muffins; simple baked goods that could be life savers at one suburban school, thanks to the creativity and spirit of Courtney Griffin.
CBS 2's Harry Porterfield says she's "Someone You Should Know."
One Friday each month, you cannot enter Barrington High School without being offered a free muffin. It's the work of a student service club known as "The Nerdly Birds," a group co-organized by Courtney Griffin.
"A muffin is something so small to give to someone, but you should see the kids on Friday morning," Griffin said. "We can do small things that affect each individual and help them to be happy and hopefully they can carry on that feeling of kindness and happiness."
Troubled that suicide claimed five teens in three years, Griffin led an anti suicide movement at the school thru a program called here.
"We're not saying we're a solution. We're not saying that everything's gonna be better in the future. But we're here for everyone we want to make this a subject of mental health that we can talk about.
Courtney sees no limit to what she can do, even though a rare neuromuscular disease has kept her in a wheel chair since the sixth grade. And it didn't keep her from being home coming queen last year.
Having organized or co-organized at least a half dozen service clubs at the school, she has had steadfast student support.
"It's great because she is able to overcome so much and still make a huge impact on the school, on the community,"
"Courtney is a very unique person. She's the type of person who brings light into a room,"
"She's always looking for ways to make people feel like they belong and she really achieves it,"
After graduation on June 3, she expects to attend the University of Illinois where she might study advertising.
She and other students also helped raise $12,000 for the Barrington Youth and Family Services agency.
"I think being in a wheelchair doesn't really affect me all that much because that's the only life I've ever known. And I think, if anything, I mean it kind of makes me different from the other students," she said. "I kind of use the difference in a good way. I want to make a difference rather than just feel different."
Courtney Griffin, a high school student who is a true leader and "Someone You Should Know."
