District 207 honors Parents of the Year

Five individuals have been recognized as recipients of Maine Township High School District 207's fifth annual "Parent of the Year" honors.

The board of education instituted this program in 2011 to honor parents of graduating seniors who have demonstrated a commitment to education and the well-being of the students. Seniors at each of the district's three schools are invited to submit nominations in the form of essays explaining why their parent or guardian should be considered.

This year's honorees are Jihan Khoury, mother of 2015 Maine West graduate Leena Khoury; Helen and Joseph Rancich, parents of Maine South graduate James Rancich; and Arkadiusz (Eric) and Dorota Siemianowicz, parents of Maine East graduate Anetta Siemianowicz.

In her nominating essay, Leena Khoury described how a car crash caused by an intoxicated teen driver badly injured her mother, who became partially paralyzed when a subsequent medical procedure went awry. Paralyzed in her back and chest, including part of her neck, Leena's mother could no longer dress or bathe herself or care for Leena and her toddler sister.

At age 9, Leena grasped her new role. "I sacrificed a typical childhood," Leena wrote. "Before going to school, I helped her dress and then pack my lunch. I also helped her shower and did some of the house cleaning. I became her 'business manager' …. I completed her paperwork, mailing bills and writing checks."

In short, Leena wrote, she strived to provide reliability, security and safety.

"Through every battle she has overcome," Leena wrote, "I have discovered strength in myself. And despite every single battle she's waged, she has never once neglected to be the most supportive, loving mother."

Leena noted that her mother never missed a choir performance, award ceremony or parent-teacher meeting. "While I have tried to provide her the support she lost when she lost mobility in her arm," Leena wrote, "she has gone to lengths previously unknown to ensure that I was supported in every aspect of life, as a person and as a student."

In his essay, South senior James Rancich described how his parents, Joseph and Helen, responded to his cancer diagnosis two years ago. He wrote of the conversation the three of them shared the morning after they received the news.

"They told me that no matter how hard things were going to get, they would be right next to me, encouraging me to keep fighting. Two years later I still think about that morning, the promise they made me, and how above and beyond they went to keep it.

"Not only did they push me to stay active in school and get all the help I needed, but they also did everything they could to help me apply and get accepted to seven colleges, including the college of my dreams, the University of Illinois."

James noted in his essay that while many teens distance themselves from their parents, his diagnosis closed that option to him, and that, instead, his parents gave the support he needed to fight cancer and graduate.

"Many days when I convinced myself I couldn't go on," he wrote, "they convinced me otherwise. I would not be alive without my mom, who dropped everything to become my primary caretaker, and my dad, who took over when mom needed a break. If they are not the best example of loving and caring parents, then I don't know what is."

In her essay, East graduate Anetta Siemianowicz told of how her parents emigrated from Poland to build a better life in the U.S. She wrote of how her mother, Dorota, cleaned many houses daily, even when she was eight months pregnant, and of how her father, Eric, worked as many as three jobs at once "that paid for me to go to a private grade school, to participate in the activities that I wanted to, and allowed us to go on vacations once in a while."

She described how her mother learned a new bookkeeping job, attended community college for an accounting certificate and raised a child all at once. She tells of how both parents attended night school to learn English and earn citizenship. She wrote of how deeply her family appreciates the opportunities of their new country.

And while her parents sometimes struggle even today with the nuances of English, she notes: "It is their story and their perseverance that has granted me the opportunities I have today."

And when she received her acceptance letter to Northwestern University, Anetta wrote, "The next day my parents went to work, proudly telling all of their friends and family of the exciting news. They were proud of me, but I was more proud of them."

And as Anetta attends Northwestern, she explained, "I will keep up my hard work to pursue OUR dream."

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