ECC a good choice for veterans
Elgin Community College has earned the distinction as one of the most Military Friendly Schools for 2012.
GI Magazine, a premier publication for people transitioning from military to civilian life, ranked ECC in the top 20 percent of more than 8,000 colleges and universities nationwide that it surveyed.
Other local schools to receive the distinction include Judson University and McHenry County College.
As part of the designation, the magazine will include ECC in its 2012 Guide to Military Friendly Schools and has listed ECC, MCC and Judson at militaryfriendlyschools.com.
ECC provides a number of resources for veterans, such as support for those who are disabled, counseling assistance, financial aid and educational benefits assistance. A student organization, Military Branches United, is a support system for veterans and their families as they return to school and transition from military to civilian life.
In other college rankings, Judson University ranked 20th among Midwest Colleges in the U.S. News and World Report’s Best College for 2012. It is the second consecutive year that Judson has made the list.
Since first appearing in the top tier of universities in 2005, Judson has moved steadily up the ranks in recent years before arriving at 20th in 2011, up from number 26 in 2010.
The rankings will be published in the October issue of the magazine. The US News and World Report uses 16 indicators of excellence including peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources and financial resources.
A cool teacher: Sheridan Elementary School has one of the coolest teachers in Elgin Area School District U-46 (sorry, Tony Sanders). Ani Smith, a fourth-grade geography teacher, was selected to spend 11 days in the Arctic on a Grosvenor Teaching Fellowship this summer. Smith said she will use what she learned during the trip to recreate that adventure in her classroom. Smith spent time on the Svalbard Islands, which are located in the Arctic halfway between Norway and the North Pole.In addition, Smith received the Distinguished Teaching Award from the National Council of Geographic Education at its conference last month in Portland, Ore.