Prominent Patriots

Why is Prominent Patriot important?
An exemplary learning community recognizes the importance of developing community members who are socially and emotionally competent. This development occurs through teaching, modeling, and reinforcing knowledge, attitudes, and skills so that all children and adults grow in the their ability to: 1) recognize and manage emotions, 2) set and achieve goals, 3) demonstrate caring and concern for others, 4) establish and maintain positive relationship, 5) make responsible decisions, 6) handle interpersonal situations effectively.

Every day, these 2 boys come to PE class early and assist the teacher with the set up of the gym. They arrive before the first bell, wait for the teacher, and then enter the gym and start setting everything up with never having been asked to do so.  Furthermore, the task is not a simple one because it requires a great deal of set-up including 7 courts of volleyball or 10 courts of badminton along with basketball setup. They were never asked to help but just started helping out one day and continue to do so even now.  For their selfless actions and demonstration of good citizenship we would like to honor Jon Rice and Avery Richardson with the Prominent Patriot Award.
April 2012

Justin Kolpak is a student that possesses strong leadership abilities and is truly dedicated to improving the lives of his peers who have disabilities.  As the SHS Best Buddies President, Justin has implemented a bi-weekly disability-training program for club members.  This was the first year this has been done and it allowed fellow executive board members to further their leadership experience, while educating general club members about specific types of disabilities and their impacts on our Buddies' lives.  He even invited a parent to speak at the meetings so kids could have a family's perspective on the importance of the Best Buddies club.  Justin also initiated and arranged for multiple fundraisers in the community, including one at his own place of work - Potbelly's.  This brought many families of those involved with the club together in the community, and brought in over $300 to help support the Best Buddies organization.  One of the biggest challenges this year has been the size of the club; we have over 100 members -- including approximately 30 of whom have severe disabilities -- however, Justin was able to handle all managerial tasks with success.  He rose to this difficult undertaking by making sure he planned simultaneous activities in a variety of locations to accommodate students that may struggle with a large crowd.  In addition to all of these tremendous accomplishments, Justin should be most proud of the great relationship he has with his Buddy of three years; he clearly leads others to follow his wonderful example.  Justin has been awarded with a very prestigious award from Best Buddies International, and has been selected as Best Buddies High School Chapter President of the Year award for the State of Illinois. Because of Justin’s dedication to increasing the social awareness of the students of Stevenson High School, we would like to present Justin with the prominent patriot award.
April 2012

  

Michika Maeda stands apart from her peers, always displaying such dignity, persistence, and class in every situation that comes her way. For instance, last year Michika suffered the loss of a dear friend in the Japan earthquake. Instead of viewing this tragedy as a detriment to her learning, she used it as an opportunity to start a Hope for Japan fundraiser at school and in the community, ultimately raising over $5000 dollars for earthquake victims. I was beyond impressed with her desire and selfless effort to organize and advertise such a large fundraising campaign, while simultaneously coping with the loss of a friend.   For her unyielding efforts and incredibly strong character, we would like to honor Michika Maeda with the Prominent Patriot Award.
April 2012

Students involved in Stevenson's Dance, Band (Percussion), and Clothing volunteered to work with Headlining Artist, Nick Cave to create a performance that all SHS students and community attendees would be able to experience.  Prior to Odyssey, under the guidance of Clark Chaffee and Greg Diethrich, the percussion students met numerous times before and after school to prepare rhythm and beats that would be used for the 10 minute performance! (WOW!!)  The Clothing students under the guidance of Christina Erickson, created fashion attire inspired by Nick Cave and found objects that were then displayed during the Odyssey Presentations. These students also volunteered to model the clothing for their classmates.  Finally, on the first day of the workshop with Nick Cave to prepare for the Odyssey Performance, the Dance Students showed their professionalism and leadership ability by stepping up and choreographing the entire performance with little help or direction from the visiting artist.  These students had an exceptional experience to work with the internationally recognized artist, however the final performance / outcome was largely due to the exceptional work of these students and I believe exemplify the Setting and Achieving of Goals, Establishing and Maintaining Positive Relationships, as well as making Responsible Decisions.  Because of this, we would like to nominate Hanna Boorom, Nate Carter, Ariel Cohen, Amelia Eichstadt, Sarah Geiselman, Kendall Malkin, Netasha Raveendran, Lexi Schmidt, Elise Tokars, Christina Wilde, Monica Wilner, Kim Xu, George West, Mike Lencioni, Brad Tiller, Phil Kagebein, Mike Benzinger, Andrew Ozga, Mike Arnoult, Erik Wilson, Ginger Lu, Kara Ballard, Stephanie Lake, Isabelle Piechowicz, Julia Osmond, Jackie Sushan, and Victoria Landau for the Prominent Patriot Award.  
April 2012

Veronica Kovach has been a key factor in the success of this year's SHS TV broadcast line up. She has been the Director on the majority of our broadcasts and she has also served as a leader in our group. Veronica was scheduled to be in France during the week of the Co-Curricular fair. When her trip was canceled, she was quick to get on crew for the Co-Curricular Fair Broadcast. Veronica stepped in as producer for the broadcast and was instrumental in the scheduling and timing of each of the nearly 30 segments we did that night. The Co-Curricular Fair is a hectic event for our club due to the fast pace, and on the fly interview booking. Veronica's calm and organized demeanor prevailed and allowed the crew to focus on the technical aspects of the broadcast while Veronica handled all of the scheduling and booking of each of our guests. Because of her dedication to providing her community with quality programming, we would like to recognize Veronica Kovach with the prominent patriot award.
April 2012

Jason Greenwald has consistently exhibited selfless service & countless hours dedicated to working behind the scenes in a variety of different Stevenson events.  Anytime there is a theater production or any event going on at SHS (Odyssey, outside facility rentals, Showcase, etc), Jason is here all hours of the day, going above and beyond, to work on the small details that bring a large production to life.  Jason has put in countless hours after school and on the weekends working as a technical and A/V assistant.  His responsibilities range from setting up the technology and equipment required for school wide events, coordinating facility and equipment rentals, and troubleshooting technology issues throughout the school.  Every summer Jason has worked as a print production assistant in charge of various jobs such as designing faculty business cards and notepads.  Most notably, Jason is heavily involved in our theater department.  He works diligently behind the scenes to help make our musicals and theater productions so stunning.  He is in charge of everything from visualization of set design, set construction, and lighting design. We are impressed by his ability to be so self aware of his interests and his tireless efforts and dedication to pursuing his passions and contributing to the Stevenson community. Because of his intense focus and sense of responsibility when it comes to achieving his goals, we would like to honor Jason Greenwald with the prominent patriot award. 
April 2012

Two members of our student council organized our recent Northeast District Student Council Hospitality Night.  We have not held a Hospitality Night in the past so this was the development of a totally new function for our Council.    These girls decided to develop something different  for our visitors that would be fun and offer opportunities for leadership growth and student exchange.  The result was a wonderful evening that brought 135 students to our school from 9 other schools in the Northeast District.  Their plan became the first ever NED Olympics.  These girls planned team-building events that mixed all the students from the various schools and allowed them to work together as they represented their "country".  Each country had headbands made, to wear as a unifying item.  These girls developed this plan on their own, and then had it submitted and approved by the NED Executive Board.  The event was a tremendous success!!  It is because of their tremendous effort to help bring our neighboring schools together in a productive and collaborative way that we honor Melissa Engel and Jane Rose with the prominent patriot award. Nominated by Debbie Durham.    
December 2011

A member of Partners for Success, in seeing that a mentor for a student with special needs was absent, took the initiative to become his mentor and guide. She turned the situation into a positive one for him. Because of her thoughtful action, we honor Kiana Bernard with the Prominent Patriot Award.
Nominated by Perrie Kominsky and Vickie Saunders.
December 2011

This student has always been a very dedicated member of the student council, and has always been willing to have a working lunch in order to in order to fulfill his obligations to the council.  However, during GREEN WEEK, we were in need for students to facilitate the signing of a petition, and there were hardly any students signed up.  This student worked every day and helped to sign up a large number of students to the petition.  It is because of his selfless dedication to assisting others that we honor Arun Pookote with the Prominent Patriot Award. Nominated by Dave Eddy.
December 2011

This student has a parent who is an insulin-dependent diabetic.  One morning, he called home to find that she was disoriented because of low blood sugar.  He directed her carefully and calmly over the phone to help her raise her blood sugar.  This student is an accomplished caregiver and well accustomed to offering assistance as needed.  His quick, gentle spirit in the face of difficult circumstances acts as a role model for anyone wishing to ease another’s burden or pain.  He is quite simply, one fabulous kid.  For demonstrating sensitive, impressive and calm problem – solving capacity that may very well have saved his mother’s life we would like to honor Jared Denten with the prominent patriot award. Nominated by Peg Cucci, Daryl Wallace & Janet Sushinski.
December 2011

 
Many of our students face hardships in their lives every day.  However, it is a rare opportunity for a group of students to get up in front of their peers and share their stories publicly.  This year, an in school field trip was planned to allow students to hear for themselves how their peers have faced personal struggles and found their way, often with the support of groups and co-curriculars.  This particular group of students worked hard to put their experiences into words and build the strength to share them in front of hundreds of their peers.  They eloquently shared their stories, their emotions, their pains and ultimately, their triumphs over difficult issues.  After the program, several students approached the panel and thanked them for sharing and for helping them to understand they are not alone.  We are congratulating, Rebecca Nierman, Sarah Graves, Kiara Douglas, Taelor Pickett, Nick Holcman, Michelle Wexler and LeAnne Aquino for their courage, their commitment to helping their peers, and their strength that allowed them to put themselves out there to share their stories with the hopes of helping others. Nominated by Janet Sushinski, Jen Polisky, and Bill Fritz.
September 2011