On Thursday nights during the winter, junior Maggie Zurn makes her way up to Spire Institute in Geneva. After a quick warm-up, it isn’t long before it is Zurn’s turn on the field. Holding a small metal ball in her hand, Zurn twists her body, winding up before the throw. She then releases the shot put, sending it flying through the stadium air. The shot put lands with a sudden thud on the sandy turf. 26-5, the officials announce; her teammates cheer. After a successful night, Zurn secures a fourth-place finish in weight throw and an eleventh-place ranking in shot put. 

Although her commitment to throwing in track and field takes up much of her time, Zurn still manages to lead in other aspects of her life, including running an anti-drug club. 

Zurn is president of Teen Institute, an attorney for Revere’s regional-qualifying mock trial team and a member of the league of leaders, all while working at Old Navy. 

Even within throwing in Revere’s track and field program, Zurn’s leadership and commitment stand out. Although traditionally high school throwers stick to shot put and discus for outdoor meets and shot put and weight throw for indoor meets, Zurn has gone beyond that, also learning to use the javelin and hammer. Zurn explained how she learned to throw and utilize these special skills. 

“My throwing coach for Revere is friends with Coach Noe, who is another coach outside of Revere, so he connected me and one of the freshmen to do that over the summer,” Zurn said. 

Zurn’s practices with Coach Noe lasted all summer, culminating in a meet showcasing her newly learned skills.

“We started in May, and we practiced all five events over the summer, and then closer to the end of summer, we focused on weight throw, hammer and javelin. We had a competition at the beginning of the school year at Spire,” Zurn said. 

Bonnie Simonelli, the at-risk coordinator for Revere, knows Zurn through TI (Teen Institute), an anti-drug group Simonelli advises. Simonelli has known Zurn since she was in sixth grade and a member of the RMS PANDA (Preventing Alcohol, Nicotine, and Drug Addiction) group. 

During her time in middle school, Zurn was an active member of PANDA and became president of the club her eighth-grade year. Simonelli describes the leadership roles Zurn has taken on. 

“She’s very committed. When she says she wants something done, she gets it done. She was president of PANDA, so this is a role she was capable of taking over. She’s been president [of TI] since tenth grade,” Simonelli said. 

Although it is unusual for a high school club to be run by a sophomore, Simonelli believes Zurn has done an excellent job throughout her two years of serving as president of TI. 

“She’ll approach the principal with some ideas that she wants to share with the school. She disseminates information, we have meetings and [she] just gets information out there,” Simonelli said. 

In addition to speaking on the dangers of drugs, TI focuses on creating a safe environment within the school. Zurn explains how the club shares its message. 

“We focus on creating an environment where kids do not feel like they have to depend on drugs and alcohol to have a fun high school experience. It’s really shown through the way we present ourselves in the high school with the mock crash. We run the mock crash at the end of the year for juniors and seniors,” Zurn said. 

Every other year at the end of the school year, before the prom season, RHS, along with many other high schools, hosts a mock crash to warn students about drinking under the influence. Running the crash is one of TI’s duties.

With only a few members, TI has focused on keeping their important message alive. 

“What Teen Institute does, and what Maggie does, is keep [the club and its message] alive. We are down to four teen institute members, and she has been a strong, every-year member since we started here. That’s why she is president,” Simonelli said. 

Despite its small size, Teen Institute runs many events throughout the entire district, including Red Ribbon Week, an anti-drug campaign for kids, at Richfield Elementary. 

“We had the Red Ribbon week at the beginning of the school year, and [Maggie] spearheaded that. We did a small campaign, and at the end of the school year, we do the senior speeches,” Simonelli said. 

In addition to Red Ribbon week, TI also worked with elementary school students for their program Too Good for Drugs. 

“Last year, we did Too Good for Drugs at the elementary school and I went into every class, and we just talked about basic lessons of refusal skills, self-confidence, goal setting, all of that. And we did have a lesson on tobacco and alcohol,” Zurn said. 

Simonelli is proud of her group and appreciates their success despite their challenges, attributing their focus to Zurn’s leadership. 

“We are not big, but what we get done in a school year and what we are about, we do not let people forget that there is a group of kids who are committed to that. We stayed alive through COVID and met through zoom. That was the one club that stayed active during COVID and that’s just because of Maggie’s leadership. I’d rather have [a few] students that are committed than fifty who just want it on their college applications,” Simonelli said. 

Simonelli is grateful for all Zurn has done for the club. 

“She gets the job done, [is] very motivated, very authentic. . . . She’s not afraid to practice what she preaches,” Simonelli said. 

During the school year, Zurn also participates in mock trial, serving as a defense attorney. Zurn explained her role in Revere’s district qualifying mock trial team.

“One attorney will do an opening and one will do a closing. The opening is more memorization and the closing is more on your feet, even though you can still memorize it. I’m a closing attorney. We each do one directive witness and redirect and one cross and recross,” she said. 

This was Zurn’s co-attorney Katie Kunkel’s first year in Mock Trial, and she credits Zurn with their collective success. 

“Maggie has always been a huge supporter for me this year. Going into it, I was nervous on becoming a lawyer and what it entailed, but right from the start she helped me with everything. Whenever I was unsure with some part of my work, she would go out to Panera or Starbucks with me and spend hours adjusting it until I liked it. She made me feel confident about my work all while having her own work to do,” Kunkel said. 

Kunkel believes Zurn’s commitment, strong knowledge base and personality led their team to success. 

“She is one of the people that has been on the team the longest, so she definitely took the ropes and made sure we all knew what we were doing and offered to help in any way. During the district [competition], she helped calm me down when I was nervous. And when she is crossing a witness, you can tell she owns the room, and it made me feel a lot better to see how it could be done successfully,” Kunkel said. 

Although Zurn doesn’t see any obvious similarities between her activities, she enjoys the differences. 

“It is different in the sense that in mock trial you’re competing against another team and you don’t really know what’s about to happen, but mock crash, it’s very scripted,” Zurn said. 

Zurn and Simonelli invite any interested person to join Teen Institute. For more information, reach out to [email protected].