The mission of the Foundation is to secure and allocate financial and other community resources that support lifelong learning opportunities provided by District 214 Community Education.

Foundation trustee’s memory lives on

Mural by Vanguard School students captures essence, spirit of Community Education’s women’s & children’s center

What started out as a contest at the start of the school year has turned into a beautiful piece of art that captures and honors the legacy and memory of the woman that the center was named after.The Catherine M. Lee Women’s & Children’s Center, located in Room A205 at Forest View Educational Center, now proudly displays a 40 ft. x 6 ft. mural that was painted by Vanguard School’s Natalie deMeo and her 10 students. In early spring, the Vanguard School mural team was presented with a challenge of capturing the essence and spirit of the center that was created in 2000 for disadvantaged female immigrants who live in the area.Part of what was asked of the team was to depict the center in a positive light and to include the Community Education tag line, “Building Learning Communities,” and the center’s slogan:

Happy Moms = Happy KidsMoms Learning = Kids Learning

Moms who Read = Kids who Read“The mural is amazing,” said CE Director Mike Field. “There are no words to describe how wonderful it is. We could not thank Natalie and her students enough for what they have created.”For DeMeo, it meant a lot for her and her students to do this project and collaborate with Community Education. “Thank you for the opportunity to do something fun and meaningful with our

rendering in early March, started painting in April, and completed the project on June 6.An official unveiling is planned in the fall. Catherine M. Lee, the center’s founder and longtime CE Foundation trustee, passed way in January. Lee was a visionary who created the center to provide low-income women with marketable skills and economic independence.

students,” she said.DeMeo’s mural team included the following 10 students: Jasmine Solano, Miguel Marin, Nick Glatczak, Brad Henning, Kyle Schaerli, Jackie Simons, Zorayda Trujillo, Dianna Santiago, Destiny Romo and Ruby Pasillas.The mural was completed in less than two months, an extraordinary feat considering DeMeo and her students’ schedule. They submitted a

Blue Sky and ButterfliesThe Catherine M. Lee Women’s & Children’s Center mural depicts what the center is all about: a haven for learning, parent education, employability, computer literacy, self-help, and much more.

FOUNDATION News District 214 Community Education Foundation Newsletter

Summer 2014

Board of TrusteesGlenn Scoggins, Chair

Community VolunteerMiriam (Mimi) Cooper, Vice Chair

Attorney, Law Office of Miriam CooperJim Galetano, Secretary

Senior Vice PresidentCirculation, Paddock Publications

John Eilering, TreasurerPresident, Mount Prospect State Bank

Carl Anfenson, Immediate Past ChairSr. Vice President, Commercial Banking

MB Financial Bank

Rebecca Eaglin, Manager/Asst. VPBMO Harris Bank

Michael Field, DirectorDistrict 214 Community EducationTony Guido, General Manager

Arlington Heights FordEileen Hart, Principal

Rolling Meadows High SchoolCliff Higley, PresidentU Keep Us in Stitches

Catherine Lee*, PresidentCDL & Associates, Inc.

Maureen Jennings McKennaRegional Human Resources Manager

ZF Services, North AmericaVenetia Miles

Director of Community RelationsTownship High School District 214

John O’Connor, AttorneyDrost Kivlahan McMahon & O’Connor, LLC

David Schuler, SuperintendentTownship High School District 214Jennie Spallone, Broker/Realtor

Coldwell BankerDr. Nancy Wagner,

Assistant Superintendent of InstructionCommunity Consolidated School District 59

Nelia Bernabe, Program Supervisor/Resource Development

District 214 Community EducationJacqui Menich, Adm. Assistant

District 214 Community Ed. Foundation

*Deceased

FOUNDATION News is published three times each year by the District 214 Community Education Foundation. Our office is located at 2121 S. Goebbert Road, Arlington Heights, IL 60005.

Phone: 847-718-7708/7799 Fax: 847-718-7713 Michael S. Field, Director Nelia Bernabe, Editor

CLOSER LOOK

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And we have a winner!

Left photo: CE Director Mike Field, center, presents Arlington Heights Ford’s John Guido, Sr., right, with the “big” HoopsMania Sweepstakes check that he won while Arlington Heights Ford General Manager and CE Foundation Trustee Tony Guido, left, joins them. Right photo shows CE Director Mike Field and John Guido, Sr. with the “big” $1,000 check. Thank you, Arlington Heights Ford for supporting the CE Foundation fundraiser!

Special keynote speaker at USCIS oath-taking ceremonyCitizenship Coordinator Ewa Crowe, right, District 214 Community Education’s very own, delivers a heartwarming keynote speech to 116 newly sworn-in naturalized U.S. citizens at the oath-taking ceremony held at Forest View Educational Center in Arlington Heights in June. Crowe shared her journey as an immigrant from Poland and how she’s now living her American dream. More on her story on page 6.

Service awardeesIllinois Secretary of State Jesse White, left, and Dennis DeRossett, right, executive director of the Illinois Press Association (IPA) join Spotlight on Service award winners from D214 Community Education: Linda Cesario (2nd from left), Marilyn Walker (center), and John Walker (2nd from right), at the awards ceremony in Springfield, May 15, 2014.

NEWS

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Alba Jones, retired Student Services Coordinator of Community Education’s Adult Education & Family Services program, proudly holds the Reflecting Excellence Award in Education plaque that she received from Reflejos in November at Harper College. CE received the award after Reflejos readers’ from its eight-county distribution area voted District 214 Community Education as an institution/organization that served Latinos in the community in the field of education.

Reflecting Excellence Award in Education

2 Community Ed Advisory Council members retire

CE Director Mike Field joins Mary Fitzgibbons, left, and Nancy Morgan, right, after both ladies attended their last CE Advisory Council meeting at Elk Grove High School. Fitzgibbons was a director at HandsOn Suburban Chicago and Morgan was the Mt. Prospect Human Services director. Both are now enjoying retirement.

Former student extols Read to Learn’s positive influence at annual conference

beamed with pride as they listened to her. Some even wiped away tears.Eksuzyan, whose first job when she came to the U.S. was cleaning houses, shared her many milestones including working as a cashier at a local store, an “upgrade” she called it; working a 12-hour shift at a factory where she received a promotion; and landing a job as a bank teller after receiving her banking/financial certificate from Harper College. She’s been working at the bank since 1999.“You volunteer your time. You’re doing a great job,” she tells the audience. “Because of you, I can look back and say, I did it!”The annual RTL conference is organized by Lesley Goldberg, RTL program coordinator; Laurie Hoffman, RTL volunteer coordinator; and Kim Peterson, RTL administrative assistant.Speakers at the conference included Karen Butzen, Nicol Engel and Diana Bucko, all site supervisors; and Jennie Spallone, local author. The site supervisors spoke on online resources and technology for tutors and students, building literacy through blogging, and Lexiles.

Tutor volunteers at the 24th annual Read to Learn conference last fall welcomed one of their very own success stories.Nvart Eksuzyan proudly stood in front of her former teachers, tutors and other volunteers, recalling her journey from leaving her native Russia, to living in Milwaukee, to moving to Wheeling, and to hearing about Community Education and the RTL program.“I came to this country with nothing. I didn’t know how to speak English,” she said. “But that changed when I enrolled in the program and met my tutor. It’s the best thing because it’s one on one tutoring.”Like thousands of non-English speaking immigrants who came to the United States, Eksuzyan discovered the program and took advantage of it. She was an RTL student for two years and learned English by practicing a lot.

“I won’t be where I am now without my tutor,” she added. “I needed my tutor to guide me. If I didn’t know a word, I would use the dictionary.”At the conference, the RTL staff members - especially her former teachers -

Read to Learn staff members left photo: Lesley Goldberg (2nd from left), Laurie Hoffman (2nd from right), and Kim Peterson (on the right) took time to celebrate with conference speakers Jennie Spallone (left), Nicol Engel (3rd from left), Diana Bucko (center), and Karen Butzen (3rd from right) after another successful RTL conference. Nvart Eksuzyan, former RTL student in right photo, shared her inspiring story at the conference.

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S POTL

The many testimonies that students wrote and shared with their teachers Jeannie Williams, Maureen Ruddy and Roberta Pennett speak volumes of the lasting impact the meaningful Community Education programs, particularly ESL, GED, and Citizenship, have in the community.Erika Garcia defied all odds - moved to the U.S. from Mexico in 2000 and not knowing how to speak English - when she received her GED certificate in November 2013. A returning ESL student in 2007, she enrolled to learn basic English, parenting skills, and signed up for the Spanish GED preparation class. “The AEFL program at District 214 helped me a lot,” she said. “I feel better about myself and I’m very thankful to all my teachers.” Garcia has moved on to enrolling in the Power Reading class, an advanced class, and considers “speaking and writing English well” as her new goal. Yoshiko Takahashi from Japan considers the ESL program a “sanctuary where vulnerable students are able to feel safe.” She said ESL students are sometimes hurt by a failure of communicating in English or tired of struggling with using developing English skills in the American community. “I think that Community Education is already a sanctuary for me,” she adds. “I appreciate my teachers and the warm welcome.” A sentiment echoed by Tomoko Miyamoto, who is originally from Japan; Bertha Bravo, who is from Mexico, and Reyna Segovia, who is from El Salvador.And then there’s Ana Velasquez who first came to Community Education via The Catherine M. Lee Women’s & Children’s Center in 2002. She went through the rigors of learning English through the ESL program and took advantage of what the center offers: employability skills, computer litearcy, among others. Fast forward to now, Ana is a notary public and owns her own business, VG Multiservices, which provides money orders, fax , photocopies, pay bills in the USA and Mexico, and notary public services.

Tomoko Miyamoto, left, with Jeannie Williams, ESL teacher

Ewa Crowe (in red) with her citizenship students

Ana Velasquez

National Adult Education & Family Literacy Week

ESL students Bertha Bravo, (left), and Reyna Segovia, (right)

Yoshiko Takahashi

Erika Garcia, ESL student, (center), is shown with CE staff members, L-R, Jeanne Williams, Maureen Ruddy, Carinna Tello and Roberta Pennett.

Year in

ReviewSuccess stories highlight programs’ impact

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‘Week of the Young Child’ celebration showcases services, programs

LI GH T

District 214’s Field House was “party central” in the spring as Community Education, in collaboration with the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), welcomed 1,500 people - mostly parents and their children - to the Week of the Young Child (WOYC) celebration. This year’s theme was “Encouraging Health and Fitness.

The event featured a community resource expo designed to provide an opportunity for families to learn about existing services in the community. The children were provided arts and crafts activities and enjoyed entertainment numbers that included multicultural singer Trisha Sebastion and the Mark Twain Tumblers.

“It was very exciting to be hosting this event again this year,” said Rhonda Serafin, D214 Community Education’s Adult Education & Family Literacy manager. “It was very educational and also entertaining for families with young children to participate in together.”

The event at Forest View Educational Center was part of the national celebration of Week of the Young Child that was scheduled in mid April. The annual celebration’s purpose is to focus public attention on the needs of young children and their families, and to recognize the early childhood and home visiting programs that meet those needs.

The family festival at FVEC highlighted the excellent quality education and services that District 214 Community Education and its partners are providing for children ages birth to five years old, and their families.

District 214 Community Education was represented at the event by CE Director Mike Field, Adult Education & Family Literacy Manager Rhonda Serafin, Family Literacy Coordinator Marilyn Tantillo, Student Services Coordinator Carinna Tello, Student Services Assistant Jessica Escutia, and Americorps Volunteer/Intern Mimi Torrance.

“...was very educational

and also entertaining for families with young children...”

Ewa Crowe delivers her speech (text below) after receiving her award from the Illinois Adult Continuing Education Association in Springfield last spring. IACEA provides leadership, representation, and advocacy for adult education and literacy

practitioners in order to advance, unify and professionalize the field. Crowe is District 214 Community Education’s citizenship coordinator.

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Mission of Community Education Foundation“To secure and allocate financial and other resources that support lifelong

learning opportunities provided by District 214 Community Education”

Name _______________________________________________________ Phone _____________________________________Address ______________________________________________________ City, State, Zip ______________________________Email ____________________________________________________________________________________________________Enclosed is my check for __________ $25 ____________ $50 ____________ OtherBill my Visa / Mastercard / Discover (circle one) for $________________________Account # __________________________________________________________ Expiration Date ________________________Signature ___________________________________________________________ Last 3 Numbers on Back of Card ___________My employer will match my contribution (circle one) Yes No Please mail to: District 214 Community Education Foundation, 2121 S. Goebbert Road, Arlington Heights, IL 60005

Your tax-deductible donation is greatly appreciated! Over 50% of our support comes from grants and donations like yours. Thank you for supporting lifelong learning through the District 214 Community Education Foundation, a 501 (c)(3) organization.

In Her Own Words

“Wow! What a great day to be an adult education teacher! I am honored to be selected as the Arthur J. Stejskal Teacher of The Year Award. I would like to thank the IACEA Awards Committee, Marilyn Schmidt, the chairman, for selecting my nomination out of many equally deserving nominees.I want to thank Rhonda Serafin, the Adult Education and Literacy Manager, for hiring me 22 years ago, believing in me, supporting and guiding me and mentoring me over the years.I would like to thank the Director of District 214 Community Education, Mike Field, for his continuing encouragement and support.I also, would like to thank my incredible, hard working colleagues, from whom I learned so much. I am privileged to work with you. Thank you for nominating me! This award is also for you.Finally, I would like to thank my family: my incredible mother and father, my brother and my sister who always believed in me, and my husband. Thank you, Danny for your patience, understanding and support. Thank you for your dinnerless and wifeless 20 years. For most of those 20 years, we saw each other only on weekends. You never even once complained. My journey started in November of 1986, when I immigrated from Poland to this wonderful land of freedom and opportunities. Like many of our adult ESL students, I came alone and without knowing the English language. Working more than full-time to support myself, did not leave much time to learn the language.

I promised myself to never give up learning, no matter how difficult it may get. I continued to progress and move from the Beginning through Intermediate to Advanced level ESL. In 1992, while attending Advanced level class, I was asked to volunteer as a teacher’s assistant in the adult ESL classroom. In the meantime, I was able to pass my transitional bilingual proficiency exams, and I was offered to teach ESL in the same District 214 Adult Education Program, I had been a student.Over the years, I taught ESL, Workplace Literacy and Citizenship classes. I coordinated the ABE/GED, workplace literacy and citizenship programs. Twenty two years later, I am still teaching at District 214 Community Education. I am a product of adult education in the state of Illinois. I am a product of your work.In conclusion, I want to say, again, how grateful I am to receive The Arthur J. Stejskal Teacher of the Year Award and how grateful I am to be in the United States, how grateful I am for the opportunity to live in this wonderful free country, how grateful I am to be an ESL and a citizenship teacher. It’s a privilege and an honor helping immigrants all over the world to learn English, achieve their goals, and assist them in becoming American citizens. It is very rewarding to assist my students in their educational journey, similar to the one, I was assisted in 27 years ago.”

Congratulations, Ewa!Ewa Crowe, center, is flanked by CE Director Mike Field, left, and CE Adult Education & Family Literacy Manager Rhonda Serafin, right, after receiving her award in Springfield.

Former ESL student pays it forward, receives‘Teacher of the Year’ award

When I heard about the ICCB funded free ESL classes, I enrolled myself into a Monday/Wednesday Beginning level ESL class. I remember how difficult it was to learn English and how awful I felt, not being able to understand and to express myself.

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847-718-7708 www.ce214.org

Township High School District 214 Community Education Foundation2121 S. Goebbert RoadArlington Heights, IL 60005

Building Learning Communities