Students often know William Griffin IV, as just the man who walks around school handing out fruit snacks. However, not many students know his background story and what he does for Lakeland. 

Will grew up with three siblings, being the oldest out of the four. When he entered his early teen years, his family joined a missionary and he traveled out of the states. He traveled overseas to places like China and Thailand. 

Once he came back to the United States, he moved to Coeur d’ Alene at 15 and was homeschooled. Being at Lakeland is the first time he came back into a school system since his third grade year. 

After moving to Idaho and adjusting to the area, he took a turn in his life that he was not expecting. Will said, “I got into a lot of trouble in my early 20’s until I started to change my life, I met Jesus and turned my life around. Now I have my own family, I have a wife, and I just had my first baby last year.” 

In 2011, Will was injured and ended up in a wheelchair for about eight and a half years. Will mentioned, “most of my past eight years have been spent in a physical therapy room. I worked a lot on rehabilitation, which eventually led me to working with Young Life.”

Will works as the community director of Young Life, “I oversee the school districts in Rathdrum and surrounding areas. I started at the beginning of the year. As of right now I only go to Lakeland Senior High School and Mountain View Alternative.”

Will expressed that he loves working at Lakeland, and the students here create a great environment. “I am super happy to be here, this is the best time of my life. I really enjoy the students here.” 

Will tries to build a connection with the students at Lakeland. He wants to be a good role model and claims he wants to be seen as “a big brother someone can count on.” Anime club is no exception for this. 

Kristin Gravatt, the art teacher at Lakeland High School who is also in charge of the anime club says “If Will didn’t step in last year to do the anime club, it would not have continued. He connects with the kids because he really loves anime. He makes the kids have a good time. He’s very enthusiastic.”

Having Will around the school creates a great environment for the school. He has a huge impact on Lakeland and the students at the school.