214@100: Ukraine's First Lady returns to Prospect
When Kateryna Chumachenko-Yushchenko graduated from Prospect in 1979 she was voted Most Likely To Succeed. When she returned to Prospect in 2005 it was as First Lady of Ukraine.
Chumachenko worked as a White House aide and in 1993 later met Viktor Yushchenko, whom she married in 1998. Viktor went on to become the Ukrainian president, making a Prospect alumna the first lady. She was first lady from 2005-2010.
She came back to Illinois in 2005 to celebrate music traditions and honor the Ukrainian people who suffered under Josef Stalin's regime. She visited Prospect when she returned.
"She was a very bright student," her Russian teacher, Ed Swick, told the school newspaper in 2005. "She was one of the most outstanding students I had."
A century of education: District 214 at 100
Northwest Suburban High School District 214 has had thousands of special moments, people and places over its 100-year-old history. In the next few months we're highlighting 100 of them - one for each year of this remarkable school district. We welcome your ideas at district214@dailyherald.com. Otherwise keep checking this page as we add more vignettes.