Over the past month or so, a high percentage of these columns have been about teenage Neighbourhood Heroes. My goal is to help more of us realize that there are a lot more teenage Neighbourhood Heroes than neighbourhood crooks even though it's the "crooks" that get most of the publicity.

There is no shortage of individual students who are finding ways to improve their schools and communities but there are also classes designed to help students find creative ways to make a difference.

Last year I wrote about two of these classes, Laura Harrison's Leadership class at Dover Bay Secondary and Donna Allen's Peer Helpers class at NDSS.

Mrs. Harrison's students organized a variety of exciting projects ranging from pet food and clothing drives to fundraisers like Hoops For Heart. Others volunteered at a nearby senior citizens home and still others coached Special Olympics athletes.

Mrs. Harrison's Leadership class has been very busy again this year. In the next few weeks I hope to write a column on two or her students, very shy students I'm told, who continued to volunteer at the nearby seniors home even after the class was over.

You may also remember how Donna Allen's Peer Helpers class at NDSS provided for seven families at Christmas and raised over $500 to help pay school fees for AIDS orphans in Zimbabwe at a school I "adopted" in 2002 on behalf of local Rotary Clubs and several readers of this column -- By the way, I hope to be going back this summer to finish the job.

I also understand that there is a Grade 10 Leadership class at Woodlands Secondary. I'll find out more about them in the future.

Today, however, I'd like to focus on Karen Proctor's Leadership class at NDSS. They meet at lunchtime, outside their regular class time.

"The goal of this group," Mrs. Proctor says, "is to create an atmosphere of positive peer pressure and to be effective role models in the school and community."

She went on to say that these are not all straight "A" students. Students come in with a wide variety of backgrounds and academic qualifications. What they have in common is a desire to make a difference and an incredible amount positive energy and optimism. Given that zeal, and their collective energy, year after year they tend to amaze even themselves with their accomplishments.

Last year the group raised over $6,000 for the Coby Alexander Fund through an "Awake-a-Thon. You may remember that Coby, an NDSS student, was senselessly beaten and required over $25,000 worth of facial and dental reconstruction.

I've been invited to attend this year's Awake-a-Thon and look forward to helping these teens raise money for a yet to be determined cause.

Two of the other projects these students manage are "Cool To The Core" and "Beauty Within".

Cool To The Core works with boys in Grade 8 and helps them break free of stereotypes and develop healthy relationships especially with girls. Beauty Within helps Grade 8 girls develop stronger self-respect.

The group also delivers an annual Bully Proofing program for both boys and girls in Grade 8.

Peter McGee took the Grade 11 Leadership class and continued in Grade 12. He feels that these classes helped him notice problems that he might have overlooked before and motivated him to find ways to do something about them.

Jordan Gregoire confessed that he took the Leadership class last year because he thought it would be easy, kind of like a spare period. Then, when he got started, he found that it was a lot of work ... and a lot of fun ... doing things that make a difference both locally and internationally.

I'll tell you more about Jordan next week.