Spring Valley CCSD Foundation honors 2024 Hall of Fame inductees

The Spring Valley Consolidated Community School District Foundation announced its 2024 Hall of Fame inductees: Dr. Barry Rush and Kendall Rush.

Barry Rush was born in Spring Valley. He began his education at Lincoln School and then JFK. In grade school, he was an honor roll student and a standout athlete in Little League and flag and youth football. He also participated in Boy Scouts and was an altar server at Immaculate Conception Church. At JFK, he excelled in basketball and track.

At Hall High School, Barry was a three-year starter on the varsity football and basketball teams. He earned several honors in basketball and football, including being named co-captain and MVP of the football team his senior year. He also participated in track and advanced choir. His summers were spent working as a lifeguard at Spring Valley’s municipal pool. Barry’s focus on athletics and social activities exceeded his focus on academics, and this showed, as his grades and ACT score were not reflective of his potential but were good enough for college acceptance.

Barry attended Bowling Green State University. When he began, he was unsure of which major he should choose, and his father urged him to become a doctor. Barry knew it would be no easy task, yet he chose to major in biology, as a pre-med student. In his first semester at BGSU, Barry struggled academically, and it was a turning point in his life. He channeled his competitive nature, which was vital to his athletic success, to his goal of succeeding academically, and he eventually made the dean’s list. He also decided to expand his studies and added Spanish as a second major. He spent an academic year abroad studying at El Centro Universitario Cardenal Cisneros in Alcala de Henares, Spain, near Madrid. Also, during his time at BGSU, Barry joined the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity and was voted the fraternity’s Senior of the Year. His hard work and dedication enabled him to graduate cum laude from BGSU, with bachelor’s degrees in biology and Spanish, and minors in chemistry and general sciences.

He was brought back to Illinois when he was accepted to the University of Illinois Medical School at Chicago. There, he was chosen to be part of the UMED Urban Medicine Special Curriculum and the Craig Summer Research Fellowship Program. In both of these programs, he worked with the UIC Sickle Cell Center and participated in laboratory research focused on finding a cure for sickle cell anemia.

After graduating from medical school, Barry began a radiology residency at OSF-Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria. During his residency, he noticed a gender disparity in radiology. This prompted him to initiate and organize the University of Illinois College of Medicine’s first Women in Radiology Conference, which connected female medical students with an interest in radiology and female radiologists. While working at OSF, Barry met his wife, Allie, who also is a physician (psychiatry), during his time in Peoria. Their son, Odell, was born at OSF four months before the completion of their residency programs.

Upon completion of his residency, Barry and his family moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where he earned subspecialty training in the University of Wisconsin’s Abdominal Imaging and Intervention fellowship program. There, he trained under some of the most well-known leaders in the fields of abdominal imaging and image-guided intervention.

When his fellowship was completed, Barry, Allie and Odell moved to Atlanta, where he became a member at Quantum Radiology and began his career as a board-certified diagnostic radiologist. During his first year with Quantum Radiology, Barry and a colleague were the first radiologists to perform MRI lymphangiography on an adult patient in Georgia.

When he is not working, Barry can be found spending time with Allie and Odell. They enjoy the many attractions and parks that Atlanta has to offer. Barry considers the support of his family to be a major factor in his success.

Kendall Rush was born in Spring Valley. She began her education at Lincoln School and then JFK. In grade school, she participated in softball and took lessons in tap, ballet and gymnastics. She also was a Girl Scout and was an altar server at Immaculate Conception Church. At JFK, she was on the cheerleading squad, the basketball team and was a member of the choir. It was at JFK that she first participated in volleyball and track.

Kendall also attended Hall High School. During the summers of her high school years, she worked as a lifeguard at the Spring Valley pool. At Hall, she was a cheerleader all four years and was on the basketball team her first three years. It was in the sports of volleyball and track and field that she truly shined. As a sophomore, in track, she learned how to triple jump. In that first year of competing in the event, she not only qualified for the IHSA state track meet but also brought home a fifth-place finish at the state meet and earned the distinction of becoming the first female in the school’s history to win an individual state medal. She also qualified to compete in the 100- and 200-meter dash. In her junior year, Kendall competed in the 100 meters at the state meet and in the triple jump, improving on her previous year’s performance by taking third place. As a senior, at the 2009 state meet, Kendall again made Hall High School history by becoming the first female athlete to win a state championship in either team or individual competition. Her 39-foot, 3¼-inch triple jump set the IHSA Class 1A record. Although it was her first year competing in the long jump, Kendall brought home a second medal by placing sixth in that event.

She was named the 2009 Female Track and Field Co-Athlete of the Year by the Bureau County Republican and the La Salle NewsTribune. She holds the Hall High School records in the triple jump, long jump and 200-meter dash. In volleyball, Kendall was an honorable mention to the Champaign News-Gazette All-State Team in her junior year and was second team All-State her senior year. She was the 2007 BCR Volleyball Player of the Year and the 2008 BCR Co-Player of the Year. She was a unanimous selection to the 2008 NCIC Lincoln All-Conference Volleyball Team. Kendall also was named the BCR 2008-09 Female Athlete of the Year, and she was the NewsTribune Female Athlete of the Year for two consecutive years.

Her athletic ability and academic success earned her a track scholarship to Illinois State University. At ISU, Kendall received a bachelor’s degree in family and consumer sciences with a focus on apparel merchandising. Her accomplishments at ISU include a seventh-place triple jump finish at the 2011 MVC Championship Meet and a sixth-place long jump finish at the 2012 MVC Championship Meet. She also was named to the AFNI Honor Roll in 2012 and 2013.

Kendall worked in the fashion industry for several years then switched gears and works as a lateral legal recruiting coordinator at the Sidley Austin Law Firm in Chicago. She also has worked as a volunteer at the Chicago Lights Organization, serving as a tutor/mentor to underprivileged children. When she is not working, Kendall enjoys experiencing the events and restaurants in Chicago and indulging in the many retail therapy opportunities the city has to offer.

Growing up in Barry’s shadow inspired Kendall to rival and even surpass him as an athlete. Both Kendall and Barry credit their success to the support of their parents, Barry and Patty, and all of their family.