Hoffman Estates High retiree receives award from French government

Robin Jacobi has been selected for induction into the French Republic's prestigious Ordre des Palmes Académiques (Order of the French Academic Palms) at the grade of Chevalier (Knight).

The Palmes académiques was founded by Napoleon in 1808 to honor education, and is the oldest nonmilitary French decoration. This distinction was initially awarded to outstanding members of the university community.

Today, it recognizes the significant contributions of teachers through their teaching, scholarship and leadership over the course of their careers. It is also bestowed upon a select group of individuals who, though not members of academia, have demonstrated outstanding devotion to the French language and culture.

The Palmes académiques is awarded by the Prime Minister of France, upon the recommendation of the Minister of Education.

The investiture ceremony took place on July 27 at Emmett's Brewery in Palatine in the presence of family, friends and colleagues. It was presided over by Denis Quénelle, deputy cultural attaché from the Consulate General of France in Chicago.

Jacobi is a longtime resident of Palatine. She retired in June 2016 from Hoffman Estates High School, where she was a French/Spanish teacher and club adviser for more than 28 years.

In addition to her teaching responsibilities, she has been president and secretary of the Chicago/Northern Illinois Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of French and served on its executive council for 20-plus years in various capacities.

Among the many activities during her tenure as president, the most important are transitioning the organization into the digital age, creating and maintaining the group's first web page, and helping organize an international French teachers conference in Chicago.

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