On March 27, 2024 the Crookston High School Leo Club was presented with its 33rd consecutive Excellence award for the 2022-23 school year. The Crookston Leo Club is the only Leo Club worldwide to have received this honor every year for the past 33 years.
“We are the number one Leo Club in the world. That’s what we’ve been told,” said Crookston Leo Club Advisor Linda Morga. “We are the only ones that have received this award (for what we do in the Crookston community) every single year.”
Every Leo Club in the world is run through each community’s Lions Club. Advisors for each club are required to send monthly reports and overviews of each project that the club participates in. At the end of each year, the advisor sends in the yearly report, which ultimately determines the criteria for the excellence award and body of work the clubs portrayed throughout the school year. “This report consists of everything I have done and the Leo Club has done throughout the year,” said Morgan, “It consists of how many members I have, what projects we have done, how many hours we have put in, and for each kid I keep track of each project they have done throughout the year.”
Morgan believes that the Crookston Leo Club cante different from many others due to the number of kids with the club and the returning students who stick with the program during their entire high school career. The Crookston club currently has 94 students participating, and Morgan believes she can raise that number to possibly 100 or more heading into next year.
Morgan also commented that being part of the Leo Club is beneficial in many ways, and helping people is at the top of that list. “The benefits are making yourself feel good by helping each other,” said Morgan. “Helping people in the community: I don’t care if kids only do a couple of projects a year, but just helping somebody makes a difference. In the long run, they are young adults and going to college or filling out resumes; a lot of jobs or positions they are looking for will ask how much volunteer work they have done.”
