Maine West High School senior Leena Khoury won the statewide Youth Leadership Award for her volunteer work at Maine Township’s Future Leaders program.
The award is one of five awards handed out annually by the Association of Illinois Township Committees on Youth, a coalition of township youth and family service programs throughout Illinois. The awards were handed out Nov. 11. Maine Township officials presented the award to Khoury during their Nov. 25 meeting.
Khoury said that while she isn’t sure she deserved the award, she was honored to receive it. She sees volunteer work as a way to give back to the community she grew up in and that gave her many opportunities to succeed.
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The Future Leaders program is part of MaineStay Youth and Family Services, the township’s family services program. It launched eight months ago. Future Leaders recruits high school students who are 16 or older to serve as positive role models for kids ages 8-13.
According to Ed Beauvais, MaineStay’s Youth Program Coordinator, the idea for the program came from discussions with Des Plaines Youth Commission. The two organizations wanted to create a mentoring program kids would be enthusiastic about.
“We decided that kids really look up to high school kids closer to their age, as opposed to older adults,” said Beauvais. “We wanted to give kids positive role models.”
He reached out to Dr. Audrey Haugan, the Principal at Maine West High School. The township has done some programs with the school in the past. Haugan introduced Beauvais to some Maine West Honor Roll students who were part of the Principal’s Leadership Team, a student advisory group.
Khoury was one of those students. She was already involved in a number of school activities and clubs. She tutors at Maine West, and she has been volunteering at Chicago Cares.
For Khoury, volunteering is a way to give back to the community where she grew up, she said.
“I wasn’t working, so I decided to spend all the free time I had serving my school and my community,” she said. “I’ve gotten a lot from Des Plaines – so I thought I’d give some of it back. Des Plaines has been my home, and you take care of your home.”
A total of eight students wound up volunteering. The volunteers meet with younger kids at Des Plaines Leisure Center, where they play games, help with homework and offer advice.
“A lot of it was playing games,” Khoury explained. “Kids would play in the gym – anything from floor hockey to dodge-ball. If they wanted to do crafts, we’d do crafts, or we’d do different activities. Sometimes, it involved helping with homework or answering question, but it was mostly just having fun.”
Beavais said he was impressed with all volunteers, but when it came time to nominate someone for award, Khoury seemed like a natural choice. In the nomination form, he described her enthusiasm and passion as a major reason why she deserved an award.
“[Khouri] is always eager to be with the kids and they all naturally gravitate to her,” he wrote. “She fosters excitement in them about doing well in school so they can be successful high school students. She values higher education and conveys this importance to the youth she mentors. “
When asked how she felt about getting the award, Khouri demurred.
“It was kind of shocking,” she said. “I didn’t know how big of a deal it was. I thought it would be a small award. I didn’t think I deserved it, but here we are.”
The Maine Township Board of Trustees presented Khouri with the award plaque at the beginning of the meeting, congratulating her and her family. Maine Township Supervisor Carol Teschky said that the entire township government was proud and happy for her.
“We are very happy that Leena was our winner,” she said. “It was very well-deserved, and I’m glad we could bring the plaque home for her.”