As a fourth grader and a Girl Scout in Vernon Hills, Emma Wright became involved with environmental causes and helped organize a project to recycle toner cartridges. Also concerned with literacy, she is part of an effort to put free lending libraries on school grounds in the area.
Now a senior at DePaul University, Trey Baker of Mundelein has already met former President Barack Obama, worked for his foundation, and is the youth outreach coordinator for Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart’s gun violence prevention initiative.
Eduardo Flores is a Waukegan native, College of Lake County student, the youth education coordinator for the Brushwood Center and co-chair of Clean Power Lake County. He is committed to educating young people at an early age about protecting the environment.
Jalen Piggs is a 2020 Waukegan High School graduate and case manager at the Family First Center of Lake County, with a goal of becoming a psychologist and helping people find the right workplace.
Piggs, Flores, Baker and Wright were among the 30 individuals earning the distinction of “30 Wonders of the 30th State Senate District” on Oct. 13 in Vernon Hills honoring people who have made significant contributions to the community.
State Sen. Adriane Johnson, D-Buffalo Grove, started her “30 Wonders of the 30th District” a year ago with residents of the area nominating different places of note. This year, she said she decided to concentrate on community members, with nominations again supplied by the public.
Coming from a variety of fields, Johnson said it was important to include young people who are starting to lead in the fields of education, the environment, health and human services, gun violence prevention, criminal justice and public service.
“We have to make space for our young leaders to shine, and mentor them to (eventually) take our jobs if they desire,” Johnson said. “If we create this space, they will be around to do our jobs in the future.”
Though Emma plans on going to college, now she is more focused on continuing her advocacy for literacy and the environment. She is organizing an effort to reduce the launch of helium-filled balloons into the air, attaining the Girl Scouts’ highest honor and writing a children’s book.
“We don’t want things like toner cartridges to wind up in a landfill. It would be irresponsible,” she said. “We want to prevent people from throwing away books,” she added, referring to the Free Little Library project.
Twice nominated for an Emmy Award as a spoken-word artist, Baker said his future lies either in the art world or continuing his efforts to reduce gun violence, as well as helping other young people make decisions leading to a brighter future.
“Young people need more opportunities for mentorship,” he said.
While still in high school, Flores said he felt environmental education and awareness was lacking. He helped rejuvenate the school’s Environmental Club, which has since received national recognition. He was surprised by the honor from Johnson.
“I think it’s pretty important people should try to make a difference, so it’s pretty cool I got recognized for this,” he said. “There is still a lot of work to be done. I believe in educating people. I want to make a difference here in Waukegan where I grew up.”
Each time Piggs meets with an individual who is in need of some kind of assistance, he said it presents another opportunity to make a difference in that person’s life. The man or woman may be on the verge of eviction, or about to lose their electric power.
“Usually when I see someone, it’s really urgent,” he said. “When I know I’ve helped them, it makes me smile.”
Johnson said honoring Flores, Piggs, Baker and Wright — along with 26 of her other constituents — is a way to call attention to and recognize people who make strong contributions to the community, either in their work or giving their time.
“We have so many amazing leaders in our community,” Johnson said. “This is a way we can honor them without being political.”
Preparing a brief questionnaire, Johnson asked any resident who wanted to nominate a person for the list to complete the form. After three months of receiving nominations, the honorees were chosen from the list.
Others chosen for the list were Varnika Maram of Vernon Hills, Jennyfer Cordova of Waukegan, Kayushap (Kash) Rajesh of Buffalo Grove, Thom Kock of Vernon Hills, Aishi Agawral of Vernon Hills, the Rev. George Moore Jr. of North Chicago, Vernon Hills Police Chief Patrick Kreis, Tierra Lemon of Waukegan and Martha and Jeff Weiss of Buffalo Grove.
Also picked were Jefferies Madrigal of Waukegan, Maritza Rodriguez of Waukegan, Rena Lee of Waukegan, Dave Doerhoefer of Vernon Hills, Mike Jesse of Waukegan, Rishi Gupta of Vernon Hills, Cristina Cortesi of Lincolnshire and Wally Frasier of Mundelein.
