By Diana XinThe Daily Northwestern

With two kids, three cats, a turtle, six goldfish and a ferret named Ferris Hilton, attorney Omar Khuri’s life is full of responsibility. Now, he’s taking on even more with his new position as a member of the Evanston Township High School District 202 Board of Education.

Khuri, 39, was sworn in Monday night as the only new member of the board this term. He was elected to the seat of retiring board member Ross Friedman on April 17 with 22.57 percent of the vote. Mary Wilkerson and Jane Colleton retained their seats in the election, which featured seven candidates for the three spots.

A real estate and immigration lawyer, Khuri and his wife, Sheila, have been involved with District 202 since their daughters were in grade school.

“We both love the high school,” said Sheila, the president-elect of Evanston School Children’s Clothing Association, which collects clothes for underprivileged children. “(Serving on the school board) will be a good journey for Omar. He’s very passionate about it.”

Their younger daughter Ramina attends Willard Elementary School, 2700 Hurd Ave. Her sister Ashley graduated from ETHS, 1600 Dodge Ave., last year and is now studying at DePaul University.

Khuri also attended ETHS, where he enjoyed choir and musical performance. He played Snoopy in a production of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” and once performed with classmates John Cusack and Jeremy Piven.

“When I graduated from high school, I did not have a good GPA – about 2.9,” Khuri said. “Without the extracurricular opportunities, my life would have been very, very different.”

A Palestinian, Khuri was born in Saudi Arabia. His family moved to Chicago when he was three and to Evanston in 1971.

Though Khuri grew up in Evanston, his travels and college education help him bring an outside perspective to the school board. During his undergraduate years at DePaul, Khuri took part in several study abroad programs that sent him to London, Mexico and Cairo, Egypt.

Superintendent Eric Witherspoon’s focus on individualized, child-centered education will help raise test scores and student achievement in the district, Khuri said. Witherspoon’s approach “was a key factor” in his decision to run for the school board.

“We’re changing the emphasis from achievement to growth,” Khuri said.

Khuri said his diverse upbringing makes him confident that ETHS can begin to close the gap in test scores that exists between students of different races.

“I know for a fact that there is no distinction we can make about the ability to learn (among ethnic groups),” he said.

An individualized approach will help ensure that children receive the help they need and grow academically, whether they are “at the top, but breeze through” or reading below grade level, he said.

Martin Norkett, who ran for Sixth Ward alderman in 2005 with Khuri as his campaign manager, said he was confident of Khuri’s abilities.

“He’s very bright and he knows how to bring people together,” Norkett said. “Next year you’ll see some very good things from Omar.”

Reach Diana Xin at [email protected].