Joliet West students named 2019-2020 Mr. and Miss Alpha Omega

Joliet West High School seniors Summit Kumar and Mary Anna Polacek were named Mr. and Miss Alpha Omega for the 2019-2020 school year.

Sponsored by the yearbook, the annual Mr. and Miss Alpha Omega contest is an honored and long-standing JTHS tradition that recognizes the best all-around Joliet West senior boy and girl. Each winner will receive a $500 scholarship and will speak at the graduation ceremony.

The finalists were chosen by a process: a list was made of the top 50 male and female students with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher over seven straight semesters. Invitations to apply are sent to these students. This requires students to write a cover letter detailing what the award would mean to them and which JTHS character attribute they identify most with and why. The submissions are then evaluated three times each by district administrators using a rubric. Scores are tallied and that is how we determine our top 10 finalists. The finalists then each submit a resume and a 5-minute video to a panel of judges who represent the Joliet community.

Judges this year included: Dr. Shawn Walsh, Will County Regional Office of Education Superintendent; Jim Fitzgerald, Director Intermodal Distribution TTX Company; Beth Feucht, Retired Joliet West English Teacher; Brien McHugh, USF Associate Professor and Department Chair of Communications; Kevin Kollins, WJOL & Star 96.7 Radio Host; Jo Slowik, Lewis University Phillip Lynch Theater Manager; Paula Fitzgerald, Vice President Business Transformation at Constellation Brands; Kelly Rohder-Tonelli, Executive Director of Communications & Marketing Joliet Junior College.

“I truly enjoy working with our community partners and the finalists; this year was extra special because everyone quickly adapted to the changes we had to make to keep the tradition of naming our top seniors. The new video component went over well with the judges and I just may now incorporate it moving forward,” said Mr. and Miss Alpha Omega Sponsor Jennifer Galloy.

Summit Kumar is the son of Vinod and Sunita Kumar. He is a captain of Math Team and has participated in it for all 4 years. He also competed in Science Olympiad in over 5 topics and Scholastic Bowl intermittently. He became involved in No Name Club, Key Club, and Recycling Club, as well as National Honor Society and Mu Alpha Theta. Summit has won several competitions and medals in Math Team and Science Olympiad. Summit has received recognition as Illinois State Scholar, Joliet West High School Top 25 Students of 2020, SAT Pacesetter, AP Scholar with Distinction 2019, and 2017 Academic Excellence. He has taken 10 AP courses and 2 dual credit courses. While still exploring his options, Summit is considering attending Joliet Junior College for a year and then transferring to Knox College to pursue a degree in biochemistry. Summit plans to follow the path of medicine to become a physician.

Anna Polacek is the daughter of Thomas and Dawn Polacek. She is the captain of the Joliet West Speech Team, along with being a performer in West's Group Interpretation play. Anna is the vice president of the National Honor Society and a member of the French National Honor Society. Anna is also a member of the Inwood Ice Arena Figure Skating Team, and is a Freestyle 7 level ISI figure skater, along with having passed her USFSA Preliminary moves and freeskate tests. Anna is an Illinois State Scholar, an SAT Pacesetter, an AP Scholar, was the Lions Club Student of the Month, was one of the Joliet West Top 25 Students of 2020, and was the Speech Team MVP for both the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons. Anna took 6 Advance Placement classes over her high school career. Anna plans to major in Film and Video Production at Temple University in Philadelphia.

The Mr. Alpha Omega first runner-up was Oscar Cruz and second runner-up was Dalton Henderson. The Miss Alpha Omega first runner-up was Kathleen Blaauw and second runner-up was Valerie Villaflor. The first runners-up receive a $250 scholarship and the second runners-up receive a $125 scholarship.

Mr. Alpha Omega finalists included: Jack Brenczewski, Diego Lazaro, Gregorio Olivares, Mario Pantaleo, Juan Reynoso, Snehal Saini, Matthew Tibudan, and Josue Weston.

Miss Alpha Omega finalists included: Nikelle Carlson, Nadia Chavez, Kathryn Epling, Hannah Eldred, Rebecca Haggerty, Dulce’ Celeste Martinez, and Valeria Reynoso.