Adam Esch

About Adam:

Born May 10, 1989.

Son of Joe and Dorothy Esch of unincorporated St. John Township.

Brother to Scott.

Grandson of Helen Kron of Portage and John and Vi Esch of Chicago.

Member of Holy Shepherd Church in St. John.

Accomplishments: Adam Esch is a 2008 graduate of Hanover Central Junior-Senior High School in Cedar Lake. An honor student with a 4.2 grade point average, he represented the class as valedictorian and was a commencement speaker. Esch completed Advanced Placement biology, calculus and English during his senior year and was a member of National Honor Society. He was a band and pep band member for two years and was involved with the Fine Arts team and the Science Olympiad Team that advanced to state competition this year. A member of the 2008 Homecoming Court, he also was a member of the school's bowling team all four years. Esch will attend Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology to major in computer engineering and has received a Rose-Hulman Merit Scholarship. He's also received awards from St. John Chamber of Commerce, Fraternal Order of Eagles, AT&T and the Zeta Psi Chapter of Kappa, Kappa Kappa. Esch earned the Boy Scouts of America's Eagle Scout Award. He works at Strack & Van Til in

St. John. He volunteered with the HC Key Club, Cedar Lake Food Pantry, Boy Scouts, NHS, Holy Shepherd Lutheran Church, World Hunger and Christmas in September, totalling about 200 hours during high school.

Personal hero: "Computer teacher April Miller Cripliver. She had a major impact on my life. She's a very good teacher."

What I read: "Pretty much anything. My favorite book is ‘Ender's Game'."

What I do for fun: "Sit around and play video games, go out with friends or read."

People might be surprised to know: "I got certified four times in computer classes: A+, Network+, Security+ and Server+."

- SUE BERO, Times Correspondent

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