Two Illinois authors, John Paul Jaramillo, LLCC professor of English, and Amy Sayre Baptista will be featured at the Latino Author Spotlight on Monday, 6-8 p.m. at Maeva’s Coffee, 1320 Milton Road, Alton. Free drip coffee will be provided for guests of this author meet-and-greet.

John Paul Jaramillo, author of “The House of Order” and “Little Mocos,” was named International Latino Book Award Finalist for both of his story collections. Named in the “Top 10 New Latino Authors to Read” by Latino Boom, his works are a profound narrative of the Latino community. Jaramillo will be sharing a reading from his most recent short story collection, “Little Mocos” and will be available after for Q&A.

Amy Sayre Baptista’s work has appeared in countless publications. She has been awarded a SAFTA fellowship, a CantoMundo Poetry Fellowship and a scholarship to participate at the Disquiet Literary Festival in Lisbon, Portgual. Her work is written both in English and Portuguese and often explores the nature of immigration and immigrant communities. Baptista will be sharing work from her September 2018 release “Primitivity” and will be available for Q&A following.

Chris McDonald, Ph.D., professor of political science, will speak on “Great Britain’s decision to leave the European Union” at the next meeting of the World Affairs Council of Central Illinois the evening of Oct. 16. The program is free and open to the public. Dinner requires a reservation.

Laurel Bretz, director, community education, and Jolene Adams, coordinator, Culinary Institute, presented to the Memorial Medical Center Rehab Grad Support Group Monday afternoon. Laurel presented on the Academy of Lifelong Learning and and Jolene did a culinary demonstration of no-bake energy bites.

Chris McDonald, Ph.D., professor, political science, spoke Sept. 12 at the Bloomington VFW post on “You, Your Family and WWI.” He also spoke Sept. 8 at the Illinois State Military Museum on the WWI Battle of Saint Mihiel.

Jolene Adams, coordinator, LLCC Culinary Institute, provided food demonstrations using locally grown produce at the Old Capitol Farmers Market this past weekend. One of the recipes she demonstrated how to make was Shaved Zucchini Salad with Parmesan Nuts.

The sixth annual GenHkids SAVOR fundraiser was held June 24 at Erin’s Pavilion. It featured a cooking competition that paired junior chefs (entering grades 4-8 in the fall) with professional chefs. LLCC’s Sean Keeley, culinary specialist, was teamed up with Destiny, and they won the overall competition! Their winning creation used tofu as protein for their tacos.

Bill Harmon, program coordinator for the agriculture program, spoke at a meeting of the Sunrise Rotary Club in Jacksonville on May 22 regarding the recent major gift and expansion plans for the program.

Dr. Chris McDonald, professor of political science, will be speaking to the Cass County Historical Society on June 9 about the shadow cast by the World War I over the rest of the 20th century and continues into the 21st century. In his discussion, McDonald will examine some of the issues that lie behind the outbreak of the “Great War,” trace the development of the conflict focusing on some of the ways that it differed from previous conflicts and presaged many modern wars, and look at the contested nature of the peace that followed it.

Laruel Bretz, director, community education, spoke on March 19 at the Ball Chatham Senior Center regarding the LLCC Academy of Lifelong Learning and the educational opportunities it offers adults 50 and greater.