Saturday, January 24, 2026

She's Running to Help, and to Heal

Scottsdale mom training for the Chicago Marathon
 
By Tim Hadac
Managing Editor
Southwest Chicago Post

Those who participate in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon usually have a specific reason to run.
           
Diana Gomez has at least three.
Diana Gomez


First is a cause close to her heart: the Ignite the Spirit Fund, a non-profit charity that has, since 2003, helped over 925 families in need and donated more than $3.1 million to ease the hardship of Chicago Fire Department families
           
“My heart is set on the Ignite the Spirit Fund because my husband’s a firefighter,” Diana says with a note of pride in her voice as she mentions her husband, Luis Gomez; who serves at CFD Engine 116 at 60th and Ashland.  Additionally, her brother-in-law, Berling Gonzalez, serves at CFD Truck 18 near 50th and Union.

“I’m pleased to run for Ignite the Spirit…I think of it as one little way of helping build a greater community.”

The Chicago Marathon is set for Sunday, October 11, but Diana is looking for her fellow Southwest Siders to sign up now to sponsor her. Her goal is to raise $2,200, and she could use a boost to make it there.

No donation is too small, she says, and those interested are encouraged to visit https://haku.ly/7af4dbdab1 for more information.
 
A lifelong Southwest Sider
 
The daughter of Guatemalan immigrants, Diana graduated from Brighton Park Elementary School in 2001 and Kelly High School in 2005.
           
When asked if she ran cross-country or track and field at Kelly, she chuckles and says, “Oh, gosh no. I wasn’t athletic.”
           
After high school, she went on to DePaul University and earned a bachelor’s degree in Accountancy. She currently works as a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) administrator and specialist at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
           
She and her husband have lived in the Scottsdale neighborhood for about 13 years.

Diana says that running the Chicago Marathon is something that has been on her bucket list for about 10 years.

“At first, I thought I’d do it before I turned 30, but life threw me a few curveballs,” she explains, noting that one of those curveballs was several years of infertility and multiple losses that ultimately led to the birth of Mila and Emma, her twin daughters, who today are 6-year-old first graders at St. Bede the Venerable School.
Mila, Emma and their mom.


“Sometimes people see them and say, ‘Oh, twins! Double trouble!’ but I always see it as ‘Double the blessing.’”

And so it goes with Mila and Emma’s mom, who will turn 40 the day before the Chicago Marathon.
 
A run to heal
           
Finally, beyond helping a worthy firefighters’ charity and accomplishing a bucket list goal, Diana is participating in her first-ever marathon—all 26.2 miles of it—to help heal an emotional wound she endured after she was accosted while running in Durkin Park a couple of years ago.
           
It was an unpleasant, frightening experience—so much so that Diana stopped running solo in the park and switched to hitting the treadmill at home. 
           
At the 2025 Step Up for Kids event.

“[Running the Chicago Marathon] is part of my own healing,” she says. “I need to challenge myself to overcome that fear.”

She does run outdoors, but at large, public events—various 5K and 8K events like the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle, a half-marathon and the 1,643 steps up all 80 floors of the Aon Center downtown (the Step Up for Kids event to support Lurie Children’s Hospital).

Diana finds the vibe at such events exhilarating—not just from the camaraderie among the runners, but from the volunteers and the spectators.

“The whole environment is incredible...that total strangers are there cheering you on, supporting you. That’s the type of thing that can have a good effect, a healing effect. That support from others helps propel you forward, not just at the event, but beyond, in your everyday life.”

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Wednesday, January 14, 2026

‘She Makes Children Feel Valued’

Jeannette Sinickas is the MCC’s 2025 Teacher of the Year

By Tim Hadac
Managing Editor
Southwest Chicago Post

Teachers of young children spend so much time engaged in rote learning, they often don’t stand out in the public mind, much less win awards.

And then there’s Jeannette Sinickas, the Midway Chamber of Commerce’s 2025 Teacher of the Year.
Jeannette Sinickas

“Mrs. S is an extraordinary teacher, an extraordinary person,” says Peter Ferreri, who nominated her for the award. “What she does with her kids and for her kids is amazing.”

Ferreri’s daughter, Gioia, is a student in Mrs. Sinickas’ second-grade class at St. Albert the Great School in Burbank.

“She’s an intelligent girl—thanks to her mother—and Mrs. S recognized that,” Ferreri says. “And it would have been easy to let it go at that.

“But she’s really harnessed Gioia’s intelligence. So, she called a meeting with Gioia’s first grade teacher, as well as a prospective third grade teacher. They talked about how my daughter has advanced and what they can do to propel her forward successfully into third grade and beyond.”

“Mrs. S told me, ‘I want her to build confidence, establish friendships and make her into a leader.’ Really, who says that about a seven-year-old?”

Mrs. Sinickas and her second graders.

He also praises her for promoting a sense of teamwork among the school’s second graders.

“She makes each child feel valued and included. She makes sure each child gets a task—even if it’s something as small yet significant as making sure other students get a smile when they’re sad or a ‘God bless you’ when they sneeze. The kids really seem to respond to that, knowing they have a special job, a responsibility to the others.”

In that way and more, Mrs. Sinickas gives her students a strong sense of Gospel values, Ferreri continues. That’s doubly important in second grade, as Catholic children prepare to receive the sacraments of Reconciliation and Communion for the first time.

A Southwest Side native

Mrs. Sinickas was born and raised in the Wrightwood neighborhood, graduating from St. Thomas More School in 1980 before heading off to Mother McAuley High School. She later attended Eastern Illinois University, where she majored in Early Education and Community Health.

Among other places, she worked at non-profits helping and advocating for people with developmental disabilities.

“I was one of those people who, 35 years ago, knocked on doors to get people who had been institutionalized a job at Jewel or Dominick’s.”

“I’ve always enjoyed helping people,” she explains. “I love being a mom. I love being a teacher.”

She and her husband of 33 years, Robert, raised their three sons (David, Thomas and Michael) in Oak Lawn. All three are grown, college graduates with careers of their own.

Her job at St. Albert the Great, which she has held for four years, is her “second act in life,” she says, adding that teaching is its own reward. Plaudits from elsewhere are an unexpected bonus.

“I was very humbled when I found out I was nominated [for the Midway Chamber’s award], and then speechless when I found out I won (among six teachers nominated as finalists). I was really taken aback.”

She says as a teacher, “you always hope you make an impact on your students’ lives, and you want the parents to feel good about what you’ve done.

“The academics are important, of course. But I also want my kids to know how important they are, that they are truly valued, that they’re great and I’m happy they’re all there.

“You don’t know exactly what each child is going through at home, so it may be doubly important for a particular child to hear an adult say, ‘You’re valued. You’re important. I’m happy you’re here.’ That can make a big impact.”

Teaching at St. Albert the Great “is truly the best job I’ve ever had,” Mrs. Sinickas adds. “The students are amazing. The parents are supportive. Staff are great to work with. Years ago, when I was working to make money to help raise a family, I didn’t always like my job. But this? I have no problem waking up in the morning and going to work.

“When you teach children, you’re around young life. It keeps you current, it challenges you. I love being around children.”

Looking back on her life, she likens herself to a lottery jackpot winner.

“I wouldn’t change anything about my life,” she concludes. “I’ve loved it all. I’d give anything to go back and live my life all over again. It’s been wonderful. And it all goes by in the blink of an eye.”
MCC leaders congratulate Mrs. Sinickas.


She accepted the 2025 Teacher of the Year Award earlier this month at the Midway Chamber of Commerce’s annual dinner-dance.





“Our members understand and appreciate the value of teachers, police officers and firefighter/paramedics to the life of our community,” MCC President Mary Ellen Brown says. “By all accounts, Jeannette Sinickas is a worthy recipient of our award. We salute her and wish her continued success.”

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Tuesday, January 6, 2026

‘We Need More People Like Her’

Lisa Robinson is the MCC’s 2025 Firefighter/Paramedic of the Year

By Tim Hadac
Managing Editor
Southwest Chicago Post

As a CFD paramedic, Lisa Robinson knows what it is to help others, up to and including saving lives—which is exactly what she did about two years ago when she played a pivotal role in resuscitating a person who otherwise would have died.
Lisa Robinson


She also knows what it is to help others right here in the Midway area, volunteering her time, talent and training to help ensure safety at public events.

Little wonder she is the Midway Chamber of Commerce’s 2025 Firefighter/Paramedic of the Year.

“Lisa’s one of those people who gives to the community,” says MCC board member Al Cacciottolo, who nominated her. “So many times, she has volunteered to be an onsite paramedic at our public events: the car show, the 5K, the tree lighting—anything we’ve ever done. And she’s never, never said no.

“In fact, we often don’t need to ask her. She steps forward to ask, ‘What do you need? What do you need? What do you need?’ And she never asks for anything in return. She has no ego.”

A daughter of the Southwest Side

Lisa grew up in the McKinley Park neighborhood, graduating from St. Maurice School in 1997. She then attended Queen of Peace High School, graduating in 2001, and later earned an associate’s degree from Morton College.

These days, she lives in Clearing. During the pandemic, Lisa was the co-creator of the Clear/Ridge Rocks group on Facebook. It attracted more than 2,000 people in the Midway area and served as the type of community-building activity that some mental health experts credit with reducing the negative impacts of the social isolation caused by the pandemic.

She is the oldest of four children, with three younger brothers.

At the suggestion of a friend, she began her career pursuit, enrolling in the EMT and paramedic programs at Advocate Christ Medical Center.

She also worked for Vandenberg Ambulance, as well as a patient care technician at three different hospitals: Christ, Rush and Lutheran General.

Lisa then got on the Chicago Fire Department hiring list. About four years later, she got the call and began her CFD duties on June 15, 2015. 

She’s currently stationed at the CFD firehouse in the West Town neighborhood, near Chicago and Milwaukee. Her work on Ambulance 53 sees her handle a wide range of duties that encompass the bustling Fulton Market District, CTA train stations, the Kennedy Expressway and more.

The 2025 Firefighter/Paramedic of the Year Award will be presented at the Midway Chamber of Commerce’s annual dinner-dance, set for Friday, Jan. 9 at Mayfield Banquets. Lisa plans to be in attendance, along with her parents, Sandy and Mark Robinson.

“The Midway area is home to a lot of police, firefighters, paramedics and others who serve in so many ways,” Cacciottolo adds. “Our community’s challenge is to always honor them, but at the same time enlist them as volunteers in our neighborhoods’ schools, churches, parks, neighborhood watches, Scout troops, Little Leagues and so forth. In Lisa Robinson, we have all that. We need more people like her."




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