George Kokuro

George Kokuro is a high school freshman on the wait list for an Invest in Kids scholarship through Empower Illinois to attend Joliet Catholic High School. Fifteen low-income students there received the scholarships, but 113 are waiting to get in like George. Despite the need, Illinois’ only private school choice program will end this year unless Illinois state lawmakers save it during the fall veto session starting Oct. 24.

“I’ve been wanting to go to law school since I was about 5 years old, because my dad always wanted me to be a lawyer. My sister went to college for law and my dad pushed her through it. My dad helped her all the way through college and she got her law degree.”

“Sadly, my dad isn’t here anymore.”

“My mom, she works in a warehouse. I should be able to take care of her in the future. And I feel like, to be able to do that, I have to have the best education.”

“At my current school, they didn’t let me take law because I’m a freshman and they said I have to wait until I’m a sophomore. I want to be able to take more electives, get my grade up, pass my SAT and get into a good college.”

“I want lawmakers to know that some people out here don’t have enough money to better themselves, so they depend on people like Empower Illinois. I feel like the scholarship should be kept so people can do better for themselves, do better in the future and hopefully succeed in life.”

“I feel like I’m a good speaker and I could speak for people as a lawyer. I want to go to Joliet Catholic to be able to succeed in life and to be able to go farther.”

George Kokuro
Public high school freshman
Joliet, Illinois