Literacy Connection celebrates at annual Tutor/Learner Recognition
The Literacy Connection's annual Tutor/Learner Recognition was held Thursday, June 4, at the Gail Borden Public Library in downtown Elgin.
A morning program took place from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. and an evening program took place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
More than 100 tutors and their learners attended the event to celebrate their outstanding efforts during the past year.
Certificates were awarded to tutors and learners who reached milestones in the following categories: Tutors with 5- and 10-years of service; Learners with 5, 10 and 15 years of attendance; Learners with over 50, 75 or 100 hours of attendance; and Tutors with over 50, 75, 100 and 125 hours of service.
Administrative and testing volunteers also were acknowledged and awarded certificates.
There were two guest speakers: Carina Morales in the morning program and Eustacio Baldazo in the evening program.
Both speakers delivered inspirational stories of their personal and professional achievements since beginning the adult literacy program with The Literacy Connection.
The organization also elected officers and board members for 2015-16 during the annual meeting portion of the program.
Chris Awe of First Congregational Church of Dundee was elected for another one-year term as board president. Deb Giardina of the Elgin Mental Health Center also was re-elected and will serve another term as vice president. Jay Robinson of Alero Worldwide was elected as co-vice president. Vikki LaRocco of Big Kaiser Precision Tooling was re-elected as secretary, and Gertrude Zaja, senior consultant with CGI, was re-elected as treasurer.
The following individuals were elected to three-year terms as board members: retired educator Gary Christenson (re-election); Toni Diones of Winergy; Raymond Drufke of New Amsterdam Corp.; Mike Kline of Lambda Treasury Advisors Inc.; retiree Beverly Lovett; and Carlos Trujillo of Highland Elementary School.
The Literacy Connection serves 16 northwest suburban Chicago communities including Algonquin, Bartlett, Carpentersville, Cary, Elgin, South Elgin, East Dundee, West Dundee, Gilberts, Hanover Park, Hampshire, Hoffman Estates, Huntley, Lake in the Hills, Streamwood, and Schaumburg. The agency provides customized one-on-one adult tutoring, English conversation groups, and family literacy programs. To learn more, visit www.elginliteracy.org, email info@elginliteracy.org, or call (847) 742-6565.