12 | October 6, 2016 | The Mokena Messenger Mokena mokenamessenger.com
mokenamessenger.com School the Mokena Messenger | October 6, 2016 | 13 The mokena messenger’s Standout Student Sponsored by Marquette Bank Who is your favorite teacher and why? Mrs. [Kati] Nakamura. I have never met a teacher so involved with her students in my academic life. She made the world of “1984” a realistic nightmare and made Jay Gatsby come to life. What is your favorite class and why? English. I enjoy analyzing and especially discussing literature. I often get very passionate when doing debates or speeches. 22ND CENTURY MEDIA AND EVERGREEN SENIOR LIVING ORLAND PARK PRESENTS... Sebastian Khattabi, Lincoln- Way East senior Sebastian Khattabi, a Mokena resident, was chosen as this week’s Standout Student for his academic excellence. What is one essential you must have when studying and why? Silence and a full belly. I get very easily distracted with nearly everything. Also when I am hungry. What do you like to do when not in school or studying? I enjoy wasting my time on Netflix, reading and sleeping. Sleeping is my favorite. What is your dream job and why? I would love to be an actor in either plays, television or theatre. I enjoy performing so much that doing it as a profession would be a dream come true. What is one thing people don’t know Anniversary From Page 8 Photo submitted about you? I was my fourth-grade spelling champ for my district, but I could have been the champion for grades four through 12 [at the next competition level], but I misspelled the word “interference.” Whom do you look up to and why? I look to my father for inspiration because of his resounding confidence and his relentless willingness to care for his family. “And I just begged,” Robertson recalled about securing the funding. “I went to every organization I could think of – every homeowners association, every club, every VFW, everything that had to do with anything in the surrounding Lincoln-Way area towns – and I just stated our case and asked for donations.” Robertson garnered enough money to pay a handful of college students minimum wage, and the rest is history. “I think at the time it was about $4 an hour,” Robertson laughed. “But the college kids who were all working with me were willing to do it. Nobody really thought about the money involved, we just paid for the buses for the field trips and the supplies for the arts and crafts and tried to do the best job we could do. And that’s what we did. We ran the program with young people ... and it was amazing.” Robertson would go on to be the association’s first director, and was in the following years the driving force behind the organization securing public funding via area park district’s tax levies. The LWSRA today receives funds from the Frankfort, Mokena, Manhattan, New Lenox, Peotone and Wilmington Island park districts. “It took a while,” Robertson said about getting public funding. “It took a lot of explaining and arguing and hoping, but then we finally had a tax What is one thing that stands out about your school? The teachers and staff create a cohesive learning environment as well as an entertaining and interesting place. If you could change one thing about school, what would it be? Bring back the non-touch paper towel dispensers in the bathrooms! What is your favorite thing to eat in the cafeteria? Lincoln-Way chicken bowl. All day, every day. What is your best memory from school? My sophomore year I was able to be a part of “Death and Taxes,” which was probably the best play I’ve ever been in because of the play itself and the cast. Standout Student is a feature for The Mokena Messenger. Nominations come from Mokena area schools. base for the program.” Robertson’s remembers that first summer camp fondly, of course, but one memory in particular is forever ingrained into her memory. The camp concluded with the youths in the program presenting their mothers with a rose, as Bette Midler’s “The Rose” played. “That’s how we ended that first summer,” she said. “I can’t hear that song without remembering that event. It was such an emotional thing for those parents to see their kids involved in something positive. “It’s been a journey. You kind of sit back at my age and think ‘I hope, I hope to God that somewhere along the line I did something good for maybe one kid or two kids.’” An Expo for Ages 50+ 9 am - 2 pm Saturday, Oct. 22 Tinley Park Convention Center 18451 Convention Center Drive NEW FREE FREE LOCATION! PARKING! ADMISSION! Event features vendor booths, health screenings, entertainment and more! Pre-register and get your FREE tickets: www.22ndcenturymedia.com/aging For more information, call (708) 326-9170 or visit www.22ndcenturymedia.com/events 22CMEvents
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