Honorable mentions: Northwest Suburban Leadership Team 2016-2017
Nikil Badey
William Fremd High School
Hometown: Hoffman Estates
Class: Senior
Parents: Naveen and Navaneetha Badey
Sponsor: Shannon Denna, mathematics teacher
Community service: Volunteered with VING speaking about the power of self-empowerment; serves as a Student Services representative; served as a Buddy Soccer volunteer working with disabled youth; works as a Viking Tutor; organizer and co-founder LYFE, a community service club that serves the disabled in the community; National Honor Society officer.
Emilio Balderas
Palatine High School
Hometown: Palatine
Class: Senior
Parents: Eddie Balderas, Karina Balderas
Sponsor: Michael Hernon, counselor
Community service: President and founder of the Palatine Chapter of the National Hispanic Institute; as chairman of the Presidents Club, aided in organizing annual charity event that raised funds for WINGS and PADS; works as a mentor with the TRUST program; as a Cultural Awareness volunteer, raised donations and helped organize a Thanksgiving dinner for local families; a member of Palatine's Promise.
Sophie Borchart
Elgin Academy
Hometown: Hoffman Estates
Class: Senior
Parents: Scott and Miyuki Borchart
Sponsor: Dan Raffety, counselor
Community service: Volunteers in a soup kitchen serving food to the homeless; is a PADS volunteer; peer tutor; volunteers as a middle school volleyball coach; creates lessons for children in English through Outreach360; works with Students Allied for Equality; National Honor Society member and mentor; Kids for Kids leader.
Khalid Davis
Glenbard North High School
Hometown: Hanover Park
Class: Senior
Parents: Rosaline Lewis
Sponsor: Kim Munro, counselor
Community service: Key Club; helped to organize a St. Baldrick's Day event; as a VietNow volunteer, helped provide meals to homeless veterans; Northern Illinois Food Bank; French tutor at STRIVE.
Muskaan Dhiman
Maine East High School
Hometown: Des Plaines
Class: Senior
Parents: Sanjay and Sunita Dhiman
Sponsor: Suzanne Caliendo, counselor
Community service: Worked providing school supplies to impoverished children through Victor's Vision; as a member of the Girl Scouts, worked on various service and community projects; packaged food for Feed My Starving Children; works as a homework tutor at the Niles Public Library.
Akira Di Sandro
Schaumburg High School
Hometown: Schaumburg
Class: Senior
Parents: Renato Di Sandro and Junko Fujimoto
Sponsor: Michelle Eggerding, mathematics teacher
Community service: Volunteered packaging food for Feed My Starving Children; volunteers at Sunrise Senior Living assisting with holiday decorations and various tasks as assigned; member of the National Honor Society.
Emma Drezen
Rolling Meadows High School
Hometown: Arlington Heights
Class: Senior
Parents: Jane Drezen
Sponsor: Nancy Karras, counselor
Community service: As a Faith Home Community volunteer, helped coordinate food drives, performed administrative tasks and worked raising funds; volunteers with Interact; as a member of student council worked on various fundraising and charitable events; packaged food for Feed My Starving Children; serves as a Mighty Mustang Mentor.
Luke Fava
Rolling Meadows High School
Hometown: Rolling Meadows
Class: Senior
Parents: Mark and Mary Fava
Sponsor: Roy Olson, history teacher
Community service: As a member of the Boy Scouts, renovated a community playground as his Eagle Scout project, overseeing a crew of 40 volunteers; is a Mighty Mustang Mentor; packaged food for Feed My Starving Children and worked on various charitable endeavors as a member of the National Honor Society.
Gabriela Gaffney
St. Viator High School
Hometown: Arlington Heights
Class: Senior
Parents: Kathi and Vince Gaffney
Sponsor: Joe Majkowski, director of counseling
Community service: As a Viatorian Giving Gardens volunteer helped develop a garden to feed those in need through the Wheeling Township Food Pantry; volunteers as a Retreat Leader; every Christmas, works with St. Benedict's parish to help prepare and serve a warm dinner to 300 plus people who have nowhere else to go; serves as a Campus Ministry team member.
Gillian Garnowski
Wheeling High School
Hometown: Arlington Heights
Class: Senior
Parents: Gary and Eveline Garnowski
Sponsor: Mike Malek, band director
Community service: Volunteers working tournaments through the Illinois Shotokan Karate Clubs; fundraises for ISKC-Illinois Shotokan Karate Clubs; student leader of Wheeling High School's Interact for Africa Club; packaged food for Feed My Starving Children; works as a Literacy Lab tutor.
Adrianna Gasior
Elk Grove High School
Hometown: Elk Grove Village
Class: Senior
Parents: Sylwia Gasior and Marian Gasior
Sponsor: Peter Wang, teacher
Community service: Worked as a physics tutor in the Mastery Lab; collected food donations for the Elk Grove Food Pantry; packaged food at Feed My Starving Children.
Matthew Jarosch
Elk Grove High School
Hometown: Elk Grove Village
Class: Senior
Parents: Ken and Kathy Jarosch
Sponsor: Kim Miklusak, counselor
Community service: Director of the Elk Grove Jazz Combo; volunteer with Nancy's Project, where the church youth group grows aloe plants for cancer patients at Alexian Brothers Medical Center; acolyte at his church; does Boy Scout community service projects like highway clean-ups, landscaping, gardening, kitchen volunteering.
Emily Keith
William Fremd High School
Hometown: Hoffman Estates
Class: Senior
Parents: Scot and Michele Keith
Sponsor: Jason Dvorak, social studies teacher
Community service: Co-founder of LYFE Club, which focuses on inclusion and organizes social events for all students to promote friendship, empathy and understanding; student council community service coordinator responsible for contacting local organizations to find volunteer opportunities for members; Palatine Opportunity Center Teen Advisory Board; Operation Snowball leader; serves as a Viking Ambassador; member of student council.
Malaika Khan
Hoffman Estates High School
Hometown: Streamwood
Class: Senior
Parents: Hanna and Moeen Khan
Sponsor: Scott Hoeft, dean of students
Community service: Mentored freshman and served as a leader to other mentors as a member of the Freshman Leadership Council; served as a mentor to elementary school students with the ICompete Mentor Program; as a member of the National Honor Society volunteered with Feed My Starving Children; worked as a teacher's aid at Kripa Montessori School.
Michael Kim
Glenbard North High School
Hometown: Hanover Park
Class: Senior
Parents: Shin and Hyon Kim
Sponsor: Kristen Masse
Community service: Willow Creek Care Center, volunteering in a food pantry; packaged food for Feed My Starving Children; Harvest Community Church team volunteer and worship team leader.
Hannah Mulroe
John Hersey High School
Hometown: Arlington Heights
Class: Senior
Parents: Mark and Diane Mulroe
Sponsor: Jim Miks, teacher
Community service: Cantor for the church choir at St. Edna Catholic Church; counselor for special needs children and adults at Camp Red Leaf; volunteered with Buddy Baseball, a summer baseball league for adults with special needs; packed lunches for St. Edna's Community Table, a free meal program for those in need; volunteers with Special Olympics.
Rural Patel
Maine West High School
Hometown: Des Plaines
Class: Senior
Parents: Alpesh and Neeta Patel
Sponsor: Audrey Haugan, principal
Community service: Voice For the Nameless, a human rights organization; volunteered with Illinois 10th Congressional District Democrats; Amnesty International; as a member of National Honor Society helped to build a greenhouse on campus; AP Student Leadership Team.
Millicent Reyes
Larkin High School
Hometown: Streamwood
Class: Senior
Parents: Fatima and Joannes Reyes
Sponsor: Jill Hunt, counselor
Community service: St. Alexius Medical Center volunteer; Feed My Starving Children; performs with the Larkin High School Symphony Orchestra at the Elgin Lions Club holiday dinner and at other functions.
Nikol Safronova
Lake County Leadership Team winner
Adlai E. Stevenson High School
Hometown: Buffalo Grove
Class: Senior
Parents: Vladimir Safronov, Elnara Safronova
Sponsor: Brett Erdmann, Community Service coordinator
Community service: As president of National Honor Society, oversaw a charity festival to benefit Live4Lali, Bernie's Book Bank and The Ryan Briere Foundation, and a schoolwide holiday gift and food drive for Lake County families; volunteer guitar teacher for inner city students; volunteers at A Just Harvest, a community kitchen; homework tutor with Robert Community House.
Aarushi Shah
James B. Conant High School
Hometown: Roselle
Class: Senior
Parents: Hiren and Manisha Shah
Sponsor: Julie Nowak, principal
Community service: PADS; distance tutor with the Bajaj Rural Development Lab at Carnegie Mellon University; founder and head tutor of Learn and Educate, a tutoring service for local kids that benefits education for girls in India; taught math and science with Teach for India; co-founder of Education for Empowerment, a Conant service club that fosters student awareness and involvement in reducing global educational/health care disparities.
Andra Tecusan
Buffalo Grove High School
Hometown: Buffalo Grove
Class: Senior
Parents: Iuliana Tecusan and Ionut Tecusan
Sponsor: Elizabeth Pilarski, ELL guidance counselor
Community service: As an Interact Service Club officer helps promote and organize various fundraising events throughout the year and volunteers with fundraising efforts for Clearbrook, Project Isaiah, Bessie's Dinner, Northwest Special Recreation Association and others; works as a middle school tutor with the FACTS CHiL program; serves as a advisory mentor and Lit Lab tutor.
Christopher Tsourmas
Buffalo Grove High School
Hometown: Arlington Heights
Class: Senior
Parents: John and Caroline Tsourmas
Sponsor: Elizabeth Bennett, NHS sponsor
Community service: National Honor Society president; works with middle school students on positive choices through the Elevate Program; tutors underclassmen as a daily participant in Tutoring Lab; participated on Team John, walking and raising funds for Autism Speaks.
Dua'e Zaidi
Barrington High School
Hometown: Fox River Grove
Class: Junior
Parents: Mazhar Zaidi and Shabiha Zaidi
Sponsor: Lucia Dvorak, English teacher
Community service: Founder/president of Autism Ambassadors; organized bake and T-shirt sales and a community 5K walk/run to raise awareness of autism and funds to provide services to families of autistic children; served as Key Club president; peer basketball coach with Special Olympics; camp counselor with the Northern Illinois Special Recreation Association; is a member of student council.
Jordan Zatz
Adlai E. Stevenson High School
Hometown: Buffalo Grove
Class: Senior
Parents: Rick Zatz and Heather Lajewski
Sponsor: Zara Dittman, Freshman Mentor Program coordinator
Community service: Freshman Mentor Program; Family and Career Community Leaders of America; National Honor Society; 300 Hours of Service club; class board/student senate.