South Loop resident/2020 Walter Payton Graduate Maggie Rivera Named 2020 Bank of America Student Leader

We received this in a press release.  If you see Maggie around the neighborhood give her a thumbs up and say thanks and keep up the good work:

Walter Payton College Prep graduate Maggie Rivera is one of just 300 high school students nationwide – and one of just 5 in Chicagoland – to be recognized as a 2020 Bank of America Student Leader.

Throughout her high school career, Maggie has amassed more than 250 volunteer hours, lending her time for causes that are important to her. After learning about the impact the immigration system can have of families and children during a Capstone project, she sought out a volunteer opportunity with the Hyde Park Refugee Project. For the past year, she’s served as a tutor and mentor to an 8-year-old student immigrant, helping her navigate schoolwork as well as social issues that come with adolescence. Maggie also served as a volunteer English language tutor with Catholic Charities. Maggie also worked on a project that examined judicial bias in the Chicago Immigration Court, where she interviewed immigration lawyers in Chicago and analyzed data from the Transnational Syracuse Recordhouse.

In school, Maggie was Editor-in-Chief for Payton’s Art & Literature Magazine and was co-captain of her high school debate team. Extremely passionate about debate, Maggie has spent time after school helping younger debaters through one-on-one lectures and file prep. Currently, given many local students don’t have access to debate camps this year, Maggie is working with four girls to develop and run a virtual six week debate program for all Chicago Debate League participants.

This fall, Maggie plans to attend University of Chicago where she plans to study either sociology or immigration law. She looks forward to dedicating her career to reforming Chicago's immigration court and mentoring children caught within the immigration bureaucracy.