Mark your calendars to join us in giving Denese Udey, program assistant, LLCC Community Education, best wishes on her retirement! A retirement reception will be held from 2-4 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 17 at Bistro Verde in the Workforce Careers Center.
Category Archives: General
Thank you from Brenda Baptist Protz
To all of my LLCC family:
On Nov. 16, my life was turned upside down and changed forever when my daughter Jenna, her best friend Holly, and Jenna’s paternal grandparents, Bill and Jackie, were taken in an automobile crash in Montgomery County. The past two weeks have been a nightmare, and it’s one that I can’t wake up from.
The only thing making this better is the acts of kindness shown to me and my family.
Thank you doesn’t seem to be enough. I probably won’t ever get around to preparing thank you notes, so I hope this reaches all of those who’ve helped out in some way. The flowers, visits, cards, meals, gift cards, emails, gifts, memorials, monetary donations and so many more acts of kindness have been incredible. And I am so appreciative to all of you who made the trip to Vandalia and/or to Jenna’s Springfield Celebration of Life. So many members of the LLCC faculty and staff have been so kind, and most I don’t even know. I appreciate you all. If you ever got to be around Jenna, you were the luckiest of all.
Claire Gordon, professor of communication, you have truly been my angel for coordinating the effort to see to it my students in all eight classes were taken care of. Thank you also to all those who have filled in for me. It hasn’t been an easy task I’m sure.
Jenna loved coming with me to campus. She loved the summer sports camps and kids college. She especially loved her cooking classes, and the recipe she learned here for homemade salsa was one of her favorites. I had hoped she would come here for two years and play basketball or volleyball or both. I had hoped she could learn from Tara Walk and Randy Rue since she had planned to study crime scene investigations and hoped to be a forensic pathologist. So many hopes.
And Tara Walk, thank you. You helped start the roadside memorial for me. It’s something I couldn’t begin, and you said yes when I asked for help. Thank you.
If you are all the praying kind or could simply send the most awesome of good vibes, we will take them. Holly’s family needs them. Holly was the youngest of three children and her family is devastated. Jenna’s dad Randy needs them. He’s lost his daughter and his parents. Our daughter Brandy needs them. She is headed back to her graduate physician’s assistant program today at the University of Dayton. She has three tests to take this week to keep on track. She begins clinical rotations in January. She’s lost her little sis and her grandparents. My heart aches for her.
And then there’s me. I feel like my role in everything that’s happened in my life has been the caregiver and the helper. I’m the one trying to fix things for everyone. I can’t fix this. But I know that all of your prayers and good vibes have kept us all going the last two weeks. Thank you for everything.
In honor of Jenna, would you please be kind to everyone? Say I love you. Mend broken relationships. Give hugs. Don’t take anyone for granted. Live with intention. Don’t waste a day. And above all, choose to say nothing but words that are loving and full of kindness.
I will end this with Jenna’s own words that she submitted in her last assignment for a class. It was a project about herself.
“It is important for people to show their appreciation for others’ good deeds because people should be appreciated every once in a while for being good to the community.”
Thank you.
Brenda Baptist Protz, professor of communication
LLCC entry wins the city-wide OMOT People’s Choice award
Michelle Burger, scholarship program and alumni services coordinator, won the city-wide On My Own Time People’s Choice award for her photography entry, “Primpin’ Ain’t Easy.” Congratulations, Michelle!
OMOT is a program of the Springfield Area Arts Council. The purpose of OMOT is to help local businesses, agencies, educational and medical institutions identify and celebrate the artistic talents of people they employ.
Misty Hagstrom, 786-2466, misty.hagstrom@llcc.edu
Lindee Hall, 786-2409, lindee.hall@llcc.edu
“Stuff the Stocking” event begins today
The Student Services Administrative Assistant Peer 2 Peer Connections group is sponsoring a “Stuff the Stocking” event during the first two weeks of December, and you can be a part of this effort!
You will see large stockings hung in LLCC Student Life as well as in the Student Success hallway at the main campus and in the front office of each of the Outreach Centers. Each stocking will be waiting for donations of a new pair of warm socks, a hat, gloves or scarf. They can be hand crafted, knitted, crocheted or purchased, but please make them new.
Items will be given to LLCC students through LLCC Student Life and donated to local nonprofit organizations in Springfield, Taylorville, Jacksonville, Litchfield and Beardstown.
Donations will be accepted Dec. 2-13.
It’s a small thing, a scarf or pair of gloves, but there are many in our LLCC community who could use that simple little thing to help keep them warm during this winter season. Thank you for making someone’s holiday and the winter months a little warmer!
LLCC closed for Thanksgiving recess Nov. 27-Dec. 1
LLCC will be closed for Thanksgiving recess Wednesday, Nov. 27 through Sunday, Dec. 1. No classes will be held, and all administrative offices at the Springfield campus and outlying locations in the LLCC district will be closed, with the exception of LLCC’s Capital City Training Center.
Capital City Training Center will be open on Wednesday, Nov. 26 from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and will be closed Thanksgiving Day and Friday, Nov. 29.
Classes and regular business hours will resume at all locations Monday, Dec. 2.
The best who-liday ever, Dec. 12
Faculty, staff and retirees are invited to the LLCC Holiday Party on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2-4 p.m. in the student union.
Enjoy camaraderie with colleagues, hors d’oeuvres and holiday music!
Thank you to United Way donors
Thanks to the generosity of 60 donors, LLCC contributed $13,161 to the employee giving program through United Way to help multiple charitable agencies in our communities. The committee would like to thank all of our generous donors. Know that your gift will make a difference!
Melissa Franzen, Nicole Ralph, Leanne Roseberry, Tara Walk, Lynn Whalen
Nominate a deserving colleague for KUDOS!
Brighten someone’s day. Say, “Thank you! Great job!” by nominating that person for a Key or Unique Demonstrations of Outstanding Service (KUDOS) award by Dec. 3! Nominate a colleague by filling out the online form. (Please use the Chrome or Firefox browser when completing this form.) KUDOS certificates will handed out on Dec. 10.
The KUDOS awards are an informal way to recognize the special contributions — small and large — made by faculty and staff that create the positive environment that is LLCC.
LLCC Athletics to establish women’s soccer team, replacing men’s soccer, and add e-sports team
The LLCC Board of Trustees voted at its recent November meeting to make changes to the athletic program offerings at LLCC. These changes include establishing a women’s soccer program to replace men’s soccer. This change allows LLCC athletics to better align with Title IX. Women’s soccer also has a strong local presence in the LLCC district, allowing more local athletes to stay close to home while playing college soccer.
Men’s soccer coach Pete Christofilakos will now coach for the women’s soccer team, and recruiting will begin immediately. The team will play its first games in fall 2020. Any men’s soccer players on scholarship who choose to stay at LLCC will have their scholarships honored for the second year. Athletes wishing to transfer will be provided assistance and support in identifying other collegiate soccer opportunities.
Also, the Board approved the addition of e-sports. E-sports as an industry has now exceeded $1 billion, and e-sports viewership is currently greater than all other sports other than the NFL. Local high schools, most notably in D-186, have already implemented competitive e-sports teams. Many community colleges throughout Illinois are preparing to launch similar teams due to recent action by the NJCAA officially sanctioning e-sports and creating an e-sports league. The NJCAA league currently features the games Madden, Rocket League and Super Smash Brothers. LLCC anticipates an initial roster size of 25 for the e-sports team, and some scholarships will be available. LLCC will begin to implement e-sports immediately in preparation for the fall 2020 season, including procuring equipment, setting up an e-sports “arena,” hiring coach(es) and recruiting players.
Ron Riggle, athletic director, was interviewed by the SJ-R for a story about these developments.
“Stuff the Stocking” event Dec. 2-13
The Student Services Administrative Assistant Peer 2 Peer Connections group is sponsoring a “Stuff the Stocking” event during the first two weeks of December, and you can be a part of this effort!
You will see large stockings hung in LLCC Student Life as well as in the Student Success hallway at the main campus and in the front office of each of the Outreach Centers. Each stocking will be waiting for donations of a new pair of warm socks, a hat, gloves or scarf. They can be hand crafted, knitted, crocheted or purchased, but please make them new.
Items will be given to LLCC students through LLCC Student Life and donated to local nonprofit organizations in Springfield, Taylorville, Jacksonville, Litchfield and Beardstown.
Donations will be accepted Dec. 2-13.
It’s a small thing, a scarf or pair of gloves, but there are many in our LLCC community who could use that simple little thing to help keep them warm during this winter season. Thank you for making someone’s holiday and the winter months a little warmer!