International student elected as ECC board rep
Just days after voters elected Robert Getz and Donna Schuring-Redmer to the Elgin Community College board of trustees, students chose their own representative.
Mario Ruch of Elgin was elected April 9 and seated at last Tuesday's board meeting.
According to a news release, Ruch, an international student from Honduras, is involved in the United Students of All Cultures, an international club promoting multicultural events, the Creative Writing Club and the Chinese Club of ECC. He currently is Student Government president.
In Honduras, Ruch was a paramedic assistant for the International Red Cross. Ultimately he wants to become a doctor and "help bring medical aid and a better quality of living to people who really need it. "
Ruch is majoring in biology at ECC and plans to graduate in spring 2010. Ruch also is one of nine individuals who blog about life at ECC. College mascot SpartaCat also authors a comical blog about his life on campus. Check out the blogs at www.elgin.edu/students.aspx?id=7852.
(Poetry) slam dunk: Kudos to Amy Zwingelberg's first grade class at Prairie View Grade School in Elgin, who will be taking part in a poetry slam today. The class, Zwingelberg writes, have been studying poetry and are excited to perform their work.
Students ace health competition: Throughout their four-month campaign, supporters of Elgin Community College's $178 million bond request cited the need for facilities to accommodate increasingly popular health career courses.
Elgin Area School District U-46's participation in the state's Health Occupations Competition revealed that more students than ever could be interested in going into the medical field.
About 250 students placed in the competition held recently in Decatur. According to the district, U-46 students brought home 73 first place, 43 second place, and 57 third place awards.
A total of 578 students from around Illinois participated in the event held in Decatur, Illinois. Competitions are held in the areas of health sciences, health professions, emergency preparedness, leadership, teamwork, and recognition.
Picture this: Fox River Country Day School has been named a Picturing America award recipient by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The program aims to introduce individuals to American culture and history through art. The Elgin school will receive a collection of 40 reproductions of American art, along with a teacher's resource book and lesson plans.
Roger Honey, the school's art director, says the prints will be highlighted in different ways in campus buildings, and used during school assemblies.