Senior Care franchise owner receives awards for performance, service

Kelly Hutchison of Elk Grove Village received a Cornerstone V and Presidential I award from Home Instead Senior Care, a provider of non-medical home care and companionship to older adults. Hutchison, a local Home Instead Senior Care franchise owner, received the awards for her outstanding business performance and superior sales and service satisfaction during the company's international convention in Omaha, Neb.

• In celebration of Nurses Week, nurses Margaret Korzewski of Wheeling and Exie Nasis of Des Plaines were recognized by their peers at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, Park Ridge, with a 2008 Nurses Choice Recognition Award. Korzewski was recognized with the Advanced Practice Nurse Excellence Award for her ability to work well with others while Nasis was recognized with the Excellence in NAF Leadership Award for encouraging staff to reach their goals.

• The Illinois Geographical Society presented its Outstanding Community College Geography Students Awards to Robert Sullivan and Iwona Drozd, both students at Harper College, Palatine. Sullivan and Drozd received this scholastic recognition at the organization's annual meeting held in Springfield. The students received public recognition, a certificate of achievement and a small financial award.

• John F. Rippinger of Schaumburg and Dexter Gardner, a Palatine native, were among the four Distinguished Alumni honored by Harper College as part of its 40th anniversary celebration. Rippinger, a 1970 graduate of Harper, is president of Rippinger Financial Group, Inc. He is an avid aviator and part of the Lima Lima Flight Team. He also co-piloted the gas balloon Chicago, which won the 1981 U.S. National Gas Balloon Championship. Gardner, a 1999 Harper graduate, is a youth pastor at Second Baptist Church in Palatine. He coordinates all the church's youth activities in addition to teaching Sunday and Vacation Bible School. He is also a former president of Harper's Black Student Union and has co-produced an inspirational CD.

As Distinguished Alumni, Rippinger and Gardner had the opportunity to speak May 22 during Harper's commencement ceremony held at the Rosemont Theatre.