Meet our 2021 High School Graduates!
Jared Masini-McCrary,
(he/him)
Jared is the son of Ebenezer members Don McCrary and Blase Masini. Jared is a 2021 graduate of Evanston-Township High School. During high school, he played three years of club baseball and is an extraordinary center fielder. He will be taking a gap year this year to figure out his next move.
Becca Boogert, (she/her)
Becca is the daughter of Ebenezer member Jen Debner and Blaine Boogert. This past June, Becca graduated from Lane Tech High School. Beginning this fall, she will be attending the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana and studying chemistry. Her love of Dungeons and Dragons will surely go with her to college.
Melanie Aguilar, (she, her)
I'm Melanie, and I connected with Ebenezer through the tutoring program when I was in elementary school. In 2016, I went on my first mission, service-learning trip to Iowa with the E.C.T. (Edgewater Congregations Together) Youth Group and have been an active youth group member ever since. I attended 2
more youth group trips to Iowa, many retreats, and I went to the 2018 ELCA Youth Gathering and Multicultural Youth Leadership Events in Houston, where I led a few hundred other youth in a Families Belong Together rally and march. I attended Senn High School for three years and Deerfield High School my senior year (during the Pandemic). I was mostly involved in sports and choir at my high schools. The activities I was involved in helped me grow a lot as a team member. I plan on attending Iowa State University this fall and pursue my study in Biochemistry.
Jocelyn Canchola, (she, her)
Jocelyn first got involved in the E.C.T. Youth Group when she met Pastor Emily at Vacation Bible School in 2019. That summer, she went on her first mission, service and learning trip with the youth group in Iowa. She attended almost all in-person gatherings, special events, and the winter retreat (up until the Pandemic shut down.) After the shut down, she continued to attend youth
group on zoom and in person this summer. During one youth group event on zoom, she taught other youth how to bake and decorate a cake. In June, she graduated from Senn High School and will start classes at Truman College soon. She plans to be a youth group leader this year and help out with the younger youth.
Jamyla Johnson, (she/they)
and Multicultural Youth Leadership Event in Houston in 2018. I love writing poetry and have written and shared my poems with the three churches, during youth group events, and
during the online ELCA Metro-Chicago Synod Juneteenth Celebration last year. I also performed one of my poems during our last youth group worship service with Bishop Yehiel Curry right before the Covid shut-down. In June, I graduated from Josephinum Academy. Throughout high school I was involved in cheerleading and the poetry club. My plan for this year is to start college at Xavier, continue with my poetry, and help Pastor Emily out with the youth group. I hope to start wrestling when it's safe.