Punjabi Cultural Society official earns honor at Lunar New Year fete

• Balwinder Singh Girn a senior project manager with Northern Trust Corporation, received the Asian-American Coalition of Chicago's 2019 Exemplary Community Service Award during the 36th annual Lunar New Year Celebration, held Feb. 23, at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare in Rosemont.

Girn, who holds leadership roles at the Asian-American Business Resource Council and the National Association of Asian-American Professionals, is also on the board of advisers and a past president of Punjabi Cultural Society of Chicago.

He was born in Punjab, India, and moved to the United States in 1978, with his family. He earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and a master's degree in electrical engineering and mathematics all from Purdue University.

• Sarah Bradley, an eighth-grade student at Mead Junior High School, in Elk Grove Village, won first place in the middle school division of the National Association for Bilingual Education's 2019 Writing Contest. Sarah wrote the essay in Spanish, her second language.

She wrote about how her father, who is from South Africa, learned to speak Spanish to communicate with her mother's family, who is from Mexico. Sarah also told the story of the first time she visited Mexico, surprising her grandparents with the ability to speak Spanish.

Sarah has been learning Spanish since kindergarten, when she was enrolled in District 54's English-Spanish dual language program at Link Elementary School.

• Belmont Village Glenview resident Ann Gerrish was honored with the Dianna Semon Spirit Award by the Belmont Village Corporation. The award is presented annually to a member of the extended Belmont Village family who embodies the exemplary traits of devotion to duty, loyalty to company, can-do attitude and genuine concern for others.

Gerrish, a 12-year Belmont Village Glenview resident, has become an integral part of the community as she voluntarily checks-in on residents who are sick or having a rough day. She is also the first person to get a card and have residents and staff sign for those who are in the hospital or for the families of residents who have passed. Every month she also thanks the staff with candy bars to show her appreciation.

• Patti S. Levinson, a family law attorney, was promoted to partner at Schaumburg-based Lavelle Law. Levinson, who joined the firm's Family Law practice group in early 2018, has a reputation for finding equitable solutions that are beneficial to all family members through mediation and collaborative resolution. Her experience is strengthened by her training and accreditation in the Divorce Mediation Training Program at Northwestern University and the Collaborative Training Program from the Collaborative Family Law Council of Wisconsin.

Levinson's promotion to partner is one of many recent acknowledgments of her hard work and skill. Levinson's work has been recognized by the Collaborative Law Institute of Illinois and the International Academy of Collaborative Law Professionals.

• Send your 'Neighbors in the News' items to Norrine Twohey at ntwohey@dailyherald.com.