Neighbors in the News
Oakton Community College, Des Plaines, honored Jay Cohen, professor of accounting, and Kristi Zenchak, adjunct biology instructor, with its 2008 Ray Hartstein Award for Outstanding Professional Excellence in Teaching during the annual breakfast to start the new academic year.
Named for the founding chairman of Oakton's board of trustees, the Ray Hartstein Award is given annually to faculty members who demonstrate excellence in teaching and respect for their students and peers.
Also honored during the breakfast were Krissie Harris, coordinator of student activities, who received the Classified Staff Excellence Award; and Leona Hoelting, manager of Oakton's Emeritus program, and Cheryl Brown, computer technology and information systems instructor, who were honored with the Lifelong Learning Award, recognizing a commitment to continuous learning, self-renewal and professional development.
• Mount Prospect resident Rick K. Fisk was named a Distinguished Alumni of Ashland Theological Seminary, Ashland, Ohio.
Fisk, who is president of Covenant Retirement Communities, holds a master's degree from Ashland Theological Seminary, is an ordained minister and an Association of Fundraising Professionals certified fundraising executive.
The award recognized Fisk's lifetime efforts, particularly his 15 years of service to senior adults in faith-based retirement housing organizations.
• Kathy Lee Flowers of Arlington Heights, Martin Trojan of Hoffman Estates, Elizabeth Kuhlow and Samuel Borstein, both of Buffalo Grove, and Michael Espinoza of Morton Grove, will participate in Shedd Aquarium's High School Lake Ecology program this year.
The students will spend a week living and working aboard the Dennis Sullivan, a 137-foot Schooner, exploring aquatic science and the Great Lakes ecosystem. They will take part in experiments, activities and classroom discussions to learn the fundamentals of aquatic science.
•Joanna Marszalek of Schaumburg and Laura Stamatkin of Palatine were selected as recipients of the Illinois Institute of Technology's prestigious Camras Scholarship, a full-tuition scholarship for four years of undergraduate education for all majors, with the exception of architecture majors who are awarded full tuition for their five year program.
Marszalek, a Schaumburg High School graduate, and Stamatkin, a Palatine High School graduate, both plan to study architecture.
• Valparaiso University student Sarah Tesch of Schaumburg spent her summer conducting research with the university's chemistry department.
Under the direction of chemistry professor Thomas Goyne, Tesch worked in collaboration with the United States Department of Energy in a study of microbes and their ability to reduce contamination by certain metals.
She looked specifically at Shewanella algae, a bacterium that could prevent uranium and other metallic pollutants form seeping into groundwater at contaminated sites.
Her research was presented at Valparaiso's Summer Celebration of Undergraduate Scholarship on Aug. 8, where the public was invited to learn more about the research being conducted by the university's biology, chemistry, geography, mechanical engineering, nursing, physics and astronomy students.
• Joey Larouche has joined the inaugural class of Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Parker, Colo., as a first year osteopathic medical student.
The inaugural class members, comprised of 160 student doctors selected from over 2,000 applicants, are scheduled to graduate in 2012.
Larouche attended St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights and is a graduate of Benedictine University, Lisle, with a degree in biology. He is the son of Dave and Judy Larouche of Hoffman Estates.
Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine is the first osteopathic, and only the second college of medicine, in the state of Colorado.