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Aside from getting his usual recognition from students, parents and teachers, Lyons Township High School Social Studies Chairman Paul Houston was recognized in a different way last month.
Houston, along with La Grange Assistant Village Manager Adrianna Peterson and Barbara Yong of Golan and Christie LLP, were all honored with the inaugural Persons of Impact award by the La Grange Area League of Women Voters on Sept. 5 at the Mayslake Peabody Estate in Oak Brook.
Each recipient received a certificate in their honor and was given a clock, which resembled a Frank Lloyd Wright house in Oak Park.
In his 16 years with LT, Houston has been a major advocate of students’ involvement in government, such as setting up mock elections, touching on various government topics in class and ultimately helping more than 100 students in registering to vote each year.
“The Persons of Impact award has been created to honor an individual, a non-profit organization or a governmental entity for demonstrated leadership and significant action in educating and empowering citizens to participate in our democracy. It is principally intended to focus on the ‘changemakers’ who reside or work in the La Grange League’s service area, which encompasses 14 villages or cities in the near west suburbs of Chicago,” said La Grange Area League of Women Voters President Jean Klotter.
League member Mary Klonowski added, “Paul Houston’s commitment to enriching academic studies with civic responsibility truly makes him a Person of Impact for his teachers, his students and his community.”
How honored were you in being one of the first in receiving the inaugural Persons of Impact award?
Personally, I feel very honored largely because I have so much respect for the La Grange Area League of Women Voters and the work they do and all the personal knowledge of the great people they have there. It means a great deal to me.
I do a lot of things in my capacity as a chair. These are among the things that are among the most important because it’s not for some of the bureaucratic things I do. I work with teachers. I supervise. I manage a budget. We live in a world of high-stakes testing, standardized testing. But for the things for which the league is recognizing me are the things I think are the most important and the things I value. That’s part of why I appreciate this recognition so much.
League member Mary Klonowski personally nominated you for the award. Any idea why?
Mary nominated me basically for all of the things she’s aware of that we do here at the school that tie in directly with the same goals as the league. We work with them and I work specifically with Mary, like registering students to vote and doing the mock elections.
She told me at the reception ceremony that she is so grateful for what we do when we teach kids about democracy and being part of the process and on a more personal level, how easy she finds me to work with.
Tell us about getting the kids involved to register to vote and its importance.
We do voter registration right here in the school. Considering there are only 900 to 1,000 seniors, some of them aren’t 18 and can’t register to vote while others are already registered to vote. I agree with the League that getting over 100 kids on a voter registration drive is pretty impressive. It was great to have well over 100 kids and help them become active participants of the democratic process. I consider that among the important things we do around here.
About Paul Houston
JOB Social Studies division chairman, Lyons Township High School
AGE 45
RESIDENCE La Grange
FAMILY Wife; children ages 14, 12 and 9