Senior class president following call to serve

SAUGUS – Jonathan McTague is no stranger to giving back, but he hopes to top his other efforts with a recent proposal to Saugus High School to sponsor a child in the Make-A-Wish Foundation.The class of 2014 president said he got the idea after the last two community service campaigns he started at the high school. The first was in November and called Saugus Unites, based on the national initiative, Characters Unite, to stop bullying and harassment in school, which had students wearing orange T-shirts and trying to be more courteous to one another. The second, in December, Let?s Make a Difference Week, inspired students to collect 200 toys for Boston Children?s Hospital and write cards for patients at Spaulding Rehab Center and troops serving overseas.?Over the past couple months I?ve been trying to make Saugus High School a better place,” said McTague. The feeling he got from the amount of people who approached him to tell him he had made difference in their lives made him want to do more. “I thought, ?there?s got to be something bigger to top all this.”McTague said he picked Make-A-Wish, the organization that grants “wishes” to children diagnosed with life-threatening medical conditions, because he liked the idea of “kids helping kids.”?You could be helping someone who is somebody else?s friend,” said McTague.The high school must raise more than $7,500 to sponsor a child, who McTague was told will be someone living within Massachusetts, with a wish.?I know the high school can accomplish it,” McTague told School Committee members when announcing the campaign. “With the dedication that the teachers and students have, I know it will be a goal we can reach.”The high school?s student council will sell Make-A-Wish T-shirts to raise the money to launch the campaign, which McTague said will probably be around the first week in February. After the launch date, McTague said the community will be invited to join.During McTague?s announcement, Superintendent Michael Tempesta suggested that businesses could be allowed to match the high school?s donation for the charity.?These kids really make us proud,” said committee Chairman Wendy Reed.To McTague, she added, “What will we do without you next year?”