Ryan Stechuchak credits a “wonderful immune system” with his perfect attendance at school — particularly the last couple years of it.
A senior at Auburn High School, Ryan was recognized at an awards ceremony Monday for not missing a single one of his 2,340 days at school since kindergarten at Owasco Elementary. Principal Brian Morgan praised the student for the rare accomplishment, as well as finishing in the top five in his class of 288, at the ceremony.
Ryan told The Citizen he’s never been sick, and never even had to go to the doctor outside of annual checkups. He also never caught COVID-19, limiting his exposure to people during the year he learned remotely. He never even missed a day of work at Wegmans, which awarded him an employee scholarship this spring.
While his immune system gave Ryan the means to never miss a day of school, his family gave him the motivation. His parents, John and Diane, stressed to him the importance of being there.
“It is a commitment,” Ryan said. “Whether it was being there for baseball practice, no matter if it was extremely hot or raining, it was just making sure that I was there and making sure I gave my best effort. Just like attending weekly Mass at church or going to work without the thought of even calling in.”
People are also reading…
Another source of family motivation for Ryan was his older brothers, Jeffrey and Kevin. Both earned perfect attendance awards as well, and Ryan said he wanted to “carry on the legacy.”
After graduating in June, Stechuchak plans to study informational technology at Cayuga Community College, with a concentration in cybersecurity. He would then like to transfer to SUNY Geneseo or the Rochester Institute of Technology to earn his bachelor’s degree. Whatever he does after that, he thanks his family already.
“When you apply for a job, this is something that would stand out in an interview,” he said. “Seeing that they were recognized for accomplishing this was motivation for me to just keep showing up.”
AUBURN — Nothing keeps Jeffrey Stechuchak from school or work. Not migraines. Not senior skip day. Not even 240 pounds of milk jugs falling on him.
AUBURN — Two students have recently achieved rare accomplishments — and they’re both from Auburn High School.
Lake Life Editor David Wilcox can be reached at (315) 282-2245 or david.wilcox@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @drwilcox.