The Caywood sisters of Kenilworth have carved out a similar, and successful, path in high school.
Hannah, a 2013 New Trier graduate; Sarah, a 2017 New Trier graduate; and Leah, a New Trier junior, have made valuable contributions to New Trier athletics, most notably as standouts on the Trevians water polo team.
The Caywoods also have taken turns organizing the “Power Hour,” a summer program in which New Trier students tutor Chicago children. The Caywoods’ grandfather, Bill Holland, also has been instrumental in the program’s development.
The “Power Hour” began in 2010 and involves a group of 10-15 New Trier students making two visits per week in the summer to Family Matters, a nonprofit organization in the Rogers Park neighborhood. The high school students do one-on-one tutoring, mostly in reading, with children in grades K-6, many of whom read below their grade level. The program also involves an incentive component in which children and their parents can earn gift cards for reading together at home.
Hannah Caywood was a high school freshman when she helped start the “Power Hour” program with Holland, a retired businessman who already was tutoring at another Rogers Park community center. Hannah Caywood led the program for three years before Sarah Caywood took the reins in 2013 and 2014. Leah Caywood has been in charge the last three years.
Leah Caywood, who like her sisters is a member of the New Trier water polo team, said she has been happy to follow in her sisters’ footsteps.
“I think they set a great example for me athletically as well as with community service,” said Leah Caywood, who plays in a utility role on the Trevians water polo team. “Each of us has seen what the others were doing (for the tutoring program) and thought we could add a little something different. We all have different sets of (classmates) coming into the program.”
In addition to serving as tutors themselves, the Caywoods have recruited fellow New Trier students for the program, made schedules and coordinated carpools to ensure there are enough tutors at each of the twice-weekly sessions.
Sarah Caywood said coordinating the “Power Hour” program was great preparation for her role as one of New Trier’s four water polo captains this past spring.
“Any contact with a group of (students) is going to give you that (leadership) experience,” said Sarah Caywood, a freshman at Michigan . “When you have to coordinate carpools and incorporate schedules, you learn valuable skills in terms of leadership.”
Sarah Caywood also said leading the reading-incentive program as an incoming high school freshman in 2013 provided several valuable lessons. That summer, Sarah Caywood and her grandfather developed a donation-proposal and presented it to management at a local Target store. The local store agreed to donate gift cards to the program.
Caywood said her grandfather, who spent a successful and varied career as an executive at Sears, Roebuck & Co., in real-estate investment and consulting, has always made sure the Caywoods received this first-hand, real-world experience in their “Power Hour” leadership roles.
“(Presenting to Target) was a first-ever, real kind of interview/pitch that I experienced. It was like an intro to business,” said Sarah Caywood, a utility player in water polo who was named fourth-team, all-state in 2017 by Illinois Water Polo.
Sarah Caywood continued: “(Working with Target) I learned how their company worked and how they set aside money to give back to the local community. My grandfather wanted me to be involved and convince (Target) to donate. He wanted me to be a big part of that.”
Holland remains a big part of the “Power Hour” program, which Hannah Caywood said takes its name from her grandfather’s policy of making his grandchildren read an hour a day during any school break. Now 88, Holland still serves as a “Power Hour” tutor at Family Matters.
In addition to helping children in Rogers Park, Holland said being involved with “Power Hour” has given him valuable time with his granddaughters.
“It’s really been a wonderful kind of team play with a grandfather and grandchildren,” said Holland, who lives in Wilmette with his wife Louanne. “(The program) struck a chord that appealed to all of us. The girls have a real interest in making a difference with these kids. I think they’ve gotten a great deal from it. I know I have.”
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Devon Lovell, academic director at Family Matters, said she was a bit skeptical when she, Holland and Hannah Caywood first began developing the concept for “Power Hour” several years ago. Lovell said she had worked with some teen volunteers previously and it had not always gone well.
But Lovell said the New Trier volunteers have been an impressive group of students, and the Caywood sisters and their grandfather, have been instrumental in the program’s success.
“What I so appreciate about the Caywoods is their genuine enthusiasm and willingness to engage the students as partners. They work as learning coaches, build relationships and inject a good dose of fun at the same time,” Lovell said. “They also recruit like-spirited peers to help fuel the program.”
Lovell added: “And (Bill Holland) is a force. He’s amazing.”
Dan Shalin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press