Sally Cadagin, president, LLCC Academy of Lifelong Learning, wrote the essay “Looking forward to fall activities!” for the latest edition of Senior News.
Category Archives: Community Education
LLCC offers fun enrichment opportunities for children this summer
LLCC is offering a variety of online College for Kids classes and Black Rocket Technology camps as well as in-person culinary experiences for youth this summer. Registration is now open.
“We are excited to help youth learn and thrive this summer,” said Jessica Ingold, youth programs coordinator. “Our lineup of programming offers in-person culinary classes and accommodates those who prefer real-time online experiences in addition to those who want to take control and learn on their own time.”
College for Kids’ online classes offer activities from June 29-Aug. 3 for students who have completed grades preK-12. Students may register for one or more classes each week. Each course includes instructional videos and accompanying supply kits. For those who want to share in the experience with family or friends, “Crew Kits” are also available for groups of five or 10.
Classes being offered this summer include: American Sign Language, Lightning Catcher, Simple Science at Home I and II, Watercolor Creations, Birds of a Feather, Fantastical Beasts, Mythological Egypt, Photography for All, Tune up Time!, Young Opera, Safari Time and more.
The popular virtual Black Rocket Technology camps are available during June and July with 3D Game Design with Unity, App Attack!, Code Breakers, Make Your First Video Game! and other tech-based fun for ages 8-14.
Youth in-person culinary experiences are available for students who have completed grades 4-12. Each three-hour course meets in the Workforce Careers Center on LLCC’s Springfield campus, 5250 Shepherd Rd. Classes include Design on a Cake, Let the Sushi Roll, Pizza Three Ways, Scratchin’ Chicken and Noodles, and Make’n’Take’n’Bake Lasagna Roll-Ups.
Visit www.llcc.edu/youth-programs or call 217-786-2432 for more information on classes, pricing and registration.
Recording of Hope Jahren’s NEA Big Read keynote address available
The Academy of Lifelong Learning (ALL) at LLCC hosted the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Big Read in Sangamon County during March and April 2021. This community reading program focused on “Lab Girl” by Hope Jahren. Fifty local organizations partnered with ALL to develop and offer free, fun and educational community-wide book discussions, speakers, interactive programs and arts presentations inspired by the book’s themes. One of the virtual keynote speakers was the author herself, Hope Jahren, who spoke on April 17 from Oslo, Norway. A recording of Hope Jahren’s NEA Big Read keynote address is now available.
Hope Jahren is an award-winning scientist who has been pursuing independent research in paleobiology since 1996, when she completed her Ph.D. at University of California Berkeley and began teaching and researching first at the Georgia Institute of Technology and then at Johns Hopkins University. She is the recipient of three Fulbright Awards and is one of four scientists, and the only woman, to have been awarded both of the Young Investigator Medals given within the Earth Sciences. She was a tenured professor at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu from 2008 to 2016 where she built the Isotope Geobiology Laboratories, with support from National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health. She currently holds the J. Tuzo Wilson professorship at the University of Oslo, Norway.
No foolin’: Chemistry is fun!
It’s the first of April! Check out the No Foolin’: Chemistry Is Fun information and video. Watch, learn, be surprised and maybe FOOLED as Jennifer Ramm, professor of chemistry, demonstrates fun experiments as a part of the NEA Big Read Sangamon County.
“The Power of Curiosity” with Emily Graslie
Tomorrow, March 25, at 6:30 p.m., Emily Graslie will deliver a live-virtual presentation on “The Power of Curiosity” as a part of the NEA Big Read: Sangamon County. Join us as we learn about Emily’s creative journey as a lifelong champion of curiosity, through the lenses of fine art and science communication. Please pre-register at https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_sYUxB-qPTWuHIFBGiaRDOQ
Emily Graslie was born and raised in Rapid City, South Dakota. After moving to Missoula, Montana to pursue an undergraduate degree in fine art painting, she fell in love with the campus vertebrate research collection as a place of artistic inspiration. What started off as a passionate volunteering position within a small museum eventually transformed into a career as an advocate for these under-appreciated repositories. As Chief Curiosity Correspondent for the Field Museum in Chicago, she served as creator, host and writer of The Brain Scoop, an educational YouTube channel with 200+ episodes about natural history that have been viewed more than 32 million times. In 2020 she made her broadcast television debut on PBS as Executive Producer, Host and Writer of Prehistoric Road Trip, a new series by WTTW Chicago about paleontology and geology in the Dakotas, Montana and Wyoming. Emily has received numerous awards and recognitions for her work, including the American Alliance of Museum’s Nancy Hanks Award for Professional Excellence. She’s a six-time Webby Award nominee and honoree in the ‘Online Science/Education Channel’ and ‘Web Personality/Host’ categories; a member of the 2018 Forbes 30 under 30 list in Education; and was named as one of the Chicagoans of the Year in the Arts in 2017 by the Chicago Tribune. Recently, in recognition of her outreach efforts, scientists at the Universities of Florida and Paraná in Brazil named a new species of butterfly in her honor: Wahydra graslieae.
“The Power of Curiosity” with Emily Graslie
On Thursday, March 25 at 6:30 p.m., Emily Graslie will deliver a live-virtual presentation on “The Power of Curiosity” as a part of the NEA Big Read: Sangamon County. Join us as we learn about Emily’s creative journey as a lifelong champion of curiosity, through the lenses of fine art and science communication. Please pre-register at https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_sYUxB-qPTWuHIFBGiaRDOQ
Emily Graslie was born and raised in Rapid City, South Dakota. After moving to Missoula, Montana to pursue an undergraduate degree in fine art painting, she fell in love with the campus vertebrate research collection as a place of artistic inspiration. What started off as a passionate volunteering position within a small museum eventually transformed into a career as an advocate for these under-appreciated repositories. As Chief Curiosity Correspondent for the Field Museum in Chicago, she served as creator, host and writer of The Brain Scoop, an educational YouTube channel with 200+ episodes about natural history that have been viewed more than 32 million times. In 2020 she made her broadcast television debut on PBS as Executive Producer, Host and Writer of Prehistoric Road Trip, a new series by WTTW Chicago about paleontology and geology in the Dakotas, Montana and Wyoming. Emily has received numerous awards and recognitions for her work, including the American Alliance of Museum’s Nancy Hanks Award for Professional Excellence. She’s a six-time Webby Award nominee and honoree in the ‘Online Science/Education Channel’ and ‘Web Personality/Host’ categories; a member of the 2018 Forbes 30 under 30 list in Education; and was named as one of the Chicagoans of the Year in the Arts in 2017 by the Chicago Tribune. Recently, in recognition of her outreach efforts, scientists at the Universities of Florida and Paraná in Brazil named a new species of butterfly in her honor: Wahydra graslieae.
LLCC women in science
Today, March 22, at 3:30pm, Becky Croteau, Stacey Olson, Jennie O’Malley, Jennifer Ramm and Samantha Reif will chat about their paths in science as a part of the NEA Big Read: Sangamon County. The conversation will take place virtually through Zoom, and we hope the audience will help guide the topics. Please join in the fun discussion!
Below is a link to the Facebook event, but you can register here whether you have a Facebook account or not: https://fb.me/e/6pM2tpUKJ.
LLCC women in science
Next Monday, March 22 at 3:30pm, Becky Croteau, Stacey Olson, Jennie O’Malley, Jennifer Ramm and Samantha Reif will chat about their paths in science as a part of the NEA Big Read: Sangamon County. The conversation will take place virtually through Zoom, and we hope the audience will help guide the topics. Please join in the fun discussion!
Below is a link to the Facebook event, but you can register here whether you have a Facebook account or not: https://fb.me/e/6pM2tpUKJ.
Big Read book distribution to students begins today
The Academy of Lifelong Learning at LLCC is distributing 1,000 free copies of the book “Lab Girl” by Hope Jahren as part of the National Endowment for the Arts Big Read in Sangamon County. As part of this, the LLCC Library and Outreach Centers will be distributing books to students beginning today.
LLCC students can pick up a free copy of the book and a seed-planting kit at library table displays on campus. Tables will be located at the entrances of A. Lincoln Commons, Logan Hall, Millennium Center and Workforce Careers Center through April 30 or while supplies last. Books and seed kits will also be distributed at LLCC Outreach Centers in Jacksonville, Beardstown, Taylorville and Litchfield.
Visit www.llcc.edu/nea-big-read-sangamon-county for a full calendar of events, book distribution points and a list of partner organizations.
ALL free book distribution begins this weekend
Beginning this weekend, the Academy of Lifelong Learning (ALL) at Lincoln Land Community College will distribute 1,000 free copies of the book “Lab Girl” by Hope Jahren as part of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Big Read in Sangamon County.
Drive-through book distributions are scheduled:
- Saturday, Feb. 27, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at First United Methodist Church, 2941 S. Koke Mill Road
- Monday, March 1, 4-6 p.m. at Union Baptist Church, 1405 E. Monroe St.
The LLCC Library and LLCC Outreach Centers will be distributing books to students beginning March 1 and continuing through April 30. The LLCC Library will have table displays with free books and seed planting kits at four building entrances: A. Lincoln Commons, Logan Hall, Millennium Center and Workforce Careers Center. The items will also be distributed at LLCC Outreach Centers in Jacksonville, Beardstown, Taylorville and Litchfield.
Also on March 1, Lincoln Library, 326 S. 7th St., will begin in-person and curbside distribution of the book by appointment (lincolnlibrary.info) during regular business hours.
Over 15 local libraries in Sangamon County have copies of “Lab Girl” to give away and for checkout. A copy of “Lab Girl” will also be available in 38 neighborhood Little Libraries.
Those receiving a copy of the book are encouraged to pass it along to a friend after reading or place it in a Little Library for someone to pick up and read.
ALL is one of 84 nonprofit organizations selected to receive an NEA Big Read grant to support a community reading program. Fifty local organizations have partnered with ALL to develop and offer free, fun and educational community-wide book discussions, speakers, interactive programs and arts presentations inspired by the book’s themes during March and April 2021.
Visit https://www.llcc.edu/nea-big-read-sangamon-county for a full calendar of events, book distribution points and a list of partner organizations.