White coat conferred in ceremony
Palak Desai of Hoffman Estates received his white coat at the White Coat Ceremony at Lincoln Memorial University-DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine in Harrogate, Tenn.
Desai is a first-year osteopathic medical student. The White Coat Ceremony marks a student's entrance into medical school.
• Safeco Insurance Foundation selected Bernie Pedersen of Palatine to be its Community Hero for 2008. Pedersen, the grandson of late state Rep. Bernard Pedersen, is a brain tumor survivor who was chosen for the honor based on his volunteer work for The MAGIC (Major Aspects of Growth in Children) Foundation in Oak Park. Safeco donated $15,000 to the Magic Foundation on Pedersen's behalf.
• The following students participated in the Festival of Pianos, which took place at Northbrook Court: Raymond and Rachel Liu, Matthew Browne, Riley Donahue, Julia Glassman, Jake Mathis, Rob Weede, Jennifer Wong, Chloe Bogdajewicz, Alexandra Porcaro, Christy Lindberg, Eileen Donohue, Anamarie Hernandez, Victoria Hernandez, Jason Deans, Morgan Buckley, Emily McNally, Katie Shaughnessy, Talyor Will, Haley Will, Gina Will, Alex Gilland, Nina Synnestvedt, Shae Synnestvedt, Grace Johanneson, Ryan Ding, Hannah Xu, Blake Maley and Michael Maley all of Arlington Heights; Kyle Dockery, Lisa Dockery, Millie Johnson, Edward Kurowski and Simone Guio all of Barrington; Arielle Solomon, Andrew Berg, Alex Slepak, Toni Slepak, Elizabeth Strba, Allison Toriumi, Eric Toriumi, Allen Guo, Laurel Guo, Madeline Motzel, Karen Motzel, Edward Wang, Jessica Wang, Catherine Pastuovic, Mary Pat Pastuovic, Alex Esfahani, Anvest Jalasutram, Sriya Potham and Nikitha Duggirala all of Buffalo Grove; Caressa Chan, Stephany Chan, Jaclyn Chan and Abbie Kasaer all of Elk Grove Village; Kaylin Hu and Mark Wu both of Hoffman Estates; Ariana and George Baldassano of Inverness; Lily Michaud, Jackie Fisher, Olivia Kern, Kevin Yang, Maura Kelleher and Rose Waleska all of Long Grove; Greg Ferdinand of Mount Prospect; David Kohn, Eliana Kohn, Benjamin Zhao, Sabrina Tran and Andrew Du all of Northbrook; Patrick Geregach, Rachel Loh, Sai Bhalerao, Darien Zhao, Joseph Zhao, Tarrant Qian and Bendita Qian all of Palatine; Randy Lin of Park Ridge; Fred Li and Rucha Kulkarni of Schaumburg; and Kyle Mesa of Wheeling.