Disaster services specialist given honor

Palatine resident Linda Trilling, disaster services specialist with the Volunteer Center of Northwest Suburban Chicago was honored for her commitment to standards of excellence in emergency management by the state emergency management director. Trilling, after attending a series of professional development classes over two years, has assisted at an Elgin shelter housing Katrina evacuees; managed volunteers during flooding in Gurnee; and has been appointed to the State of Illinois Volunteer Management Support team to manage volunteers who will support communities in the event of a disaster. The Volunteer Center, Arlington Heights, partners with the Palatine Emergency Management Agency Citizen Corps.

• The Sisters of the Living Word installed their new leaders at a gathering in Arlington Heights. The new leadership team members are Sister Rita Worm, a native of Minnesota; Sister Lynda Rink, a native of Louisiana; and Sister Joel Curcio, a native of Illinois. The Sisters will serve for five years. The Sisters of the Living Word minister throughout the Midwest and South, in ministries including youth and adult education, campus and diocesan ministry, health care, and retreat and spiritual direction.

• Catherine Sears, a Chippewa Middle School language arts educator, was named 2008 Sam's Club Teacher of the Year. An assembly, packed with Chippewa eighth-graders, their teachers, district administrators and family members, was held to honor and celebrate Sears' achievement. During the ceremony Sears received $100 and Chippewa was the beneficiary of a $1,000 grant from the Wal-Mart Foundation. After having worked in District 62 for more than 15 years, Sears was cited for serving as an influence for excellence at Chippewa Middle School and in the community of Des Plaines.