Jackie Tuskan

About Jackie:

Born July 15, 1990.

Daughter of Corky and Susan Tuskan of St. John.

Sister to C.J.

Granddaughter of Betty Jackowski of St. John and Maryann Tuskan of Highland.

Member of St. John the Evangelist Church.

Accomplishments: Jackie Tuskan is a senior at Marian Catholic High School. An honor student all four years with a 3.7 grade point average, she is taking Advanced Placement biology along with honors anatomy, pre calculus and Latin IV. Tuskan is a member of National Honor Society and is the senior class vice president; she was junior class vice president last year. She helped create and is active in the Super Fan Club and was crowned Junior/Senior Prom Queen for 2008. Tuscan participates in the school's recruitment corps, which includes student ambassador visits to her grade school, helping with the Amazing Academic Race at Marian for seventh graders and Step-Up Day at Marian for eighth graders, serving as an open house tour guide, serving as a frequent "shadow" sponsor for prospective students, and volunteering as upperclassman coordinator for freshman and sophomore retreats. She also serves as a student aide in the guidance department. She is a four-year member of the basketball team

and will earn her second varsity athletic letter this year. She was team captain as a freshman and sophomore, when she was named defensive player of the year. Tuskan played volleyball during her freshman and sophomore years, was team captain both years, and played lacrosse during her sophomore and junior years. She also participated in a Kairos retreat. At church, Tuskan is active in Teens for Christ and joined the youth group on a one-week mission trip to Appalachia. She serves the parish as a lector, altar server and master of ceremony who directs newer altar servers. She has also been a volunteer at St. Margaret Mercy Hospital in Dyer for four years. When she was younger, Tuskan danced with the Indiana Youth Ballet. It has been a lifelong dream of Tuskan to attend the University of Notre Dame.

Personal hero: "My brother. He was the one who taught me to read and count money. He was always there for me and he sparked my love for basketball. He played all four years in high school and is playing in college, too."

What I read: "I'm reading ‘Push Not the River' by my senior teacher, James Martin. It does have a Polish background and I have Polish roots. It keeps my attention."

What I do for fun: "I enjoy hanging out with friends. We usually enjoy going to someone's house and watching football or basketball games. Simple things like that."

People might be surprised to know: "When I was in fourth grade, I didn't want to play basketball. A friend got me into it."

- SUE BERO, Times Correspondent

To nominate someone for this feature, e-mail slbero@hotmail.com