The community is served by motivated teens that seek out causes and follow through with their support.

    There’s nothing like the spirit and all-out commitment of youth to inspire good citizens dedicated to helping others.
    Take for example the 50 or so teens that make up this year’s version of Students for Social Responsibility at Irvine High School. The organization has been on campus since 1983 and has lived up to its imposing name.
    Much of the credit goes to the group’s faculty adviser and motivator all that time, Jim Antenore, who was recently selected as the high school teacher of the year in Irvine Unified School District.
    Antenore, on the other hand, credits the kids for refusing to sit on the sidelines. They place importance on the concept of social responsibility, being concerned with things other than themselves, Mr. Antenore points out.
    Over the years, the group has focused on the environment, homelessness, human rights abuses, disaster relief and even sprucing up the campus. They donate money and they plant trees. They support the school’s performing arts and sports programs. They buy equipment for the custodial staff.
    Next week, they’re sponsoring a concert and dinner to raise money to help children struggling to survive in a ravaged community halfway around the world.
    The latest cause was embraced by the students when they saw a documentary film and heard a report about children in Africa who have been left vulnerable by the AIDS epidemic.
    Students for Social Responsibility and The Africa Project, another Irvine organization, found each other and teamed up. Debra Bianchi is one of the organizers and leaders of The Africa Project and, like Mr. Antenore, has long been a motivator for service-minded youth in Irvine.
    Mrs. Bianchi’s fledgling organization is determined to help children in Nkandla, South Africa, who have been orphaned by the AIDS epidemic; one in four adults there are infected with HID/AIDS.
    Irvine High students in December learned first-hand the devastating effects of AIDS, poverty and lack of education have had on the children. The vivid report was delivered by a social worker and a high school principal from Nkandla.
    The report was all it took to motivate the kids to action, Mr. Antenore said. The cause also has been taken up by another Irvine High student organization, Think Global, and the city’s High School Youth Action Team.
    They devote their lunch hours and time outside school to the effort. The membership of Students for Social Responsibility changes from year to year, but the spirit of dedication remains. And it’s the spirit that keeps their motivators motivated. “Ever time I think about hanging up my gloves, their involvement and enthusiasm re-energizes me,” Mr. Antenore told an Irvine World News reporter.
    And the best news for the community is, the youths who accept their social responsibility likely will stay involved and will motivate others to serve in the years to come.

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