An Illinois Valley Community College student and three alumni have been nominated for 2006 Illinois Community College Trustees Association awards.

Christina Jenkins of Rutland, a sophomore planning to transfer to Illinois State University to pursue a teaching degree, won IVCC’s Paul Simon Essay Contest for her paper, “A Life Forever Changed.”

Jenkins will read her essay at the college’s 40th annual commencement May 19 and will vie with other essayists across the state for the ICCTA’s Paul Simon award. The state winner will receive $500 for educational expenses.

In her essay, Jenkins details how IVCC helped her move from cleaning motel rooms to her dream of becoming a teacher.

Three IVCC alumni, Jacqueline Marquardt of La Salle, Andy Simko of Des Moines, and Dr. John J. Derango of Peru were also nominated for ICCTA awards.

Marquardt of La Salle, a 2002 IVCC graduate, was nominated for the Pacesetter Award that recognizes the many success stories of recent community college graduates.

Marquardt, Admissions and Marketing Director at Heartland Healthcare Center in Henry, graduated in 2004 from Bradley University where she earned the Marketing Excellence Award, the Robert J. Saner Prize for Business Administration, and helped build homes for Habitat for Humanity in Peoria and Florida.

A gifted saxophone and piano player, Marquardt was a leader in Bradley’s top band, the Symphonic Winds. Closer to home, Marquardt has been involved in the Maud Powell Music Festival, The Oglesby Union Church choir, the IVCC Wind Ensemble and the Illinois Valley Symphony Orchestra.

Simko, a 2005 IVCC graduate formerly of Streator, is the college’s nominee for the Gary W. Davis Ethical Leadership Award. Simko was the student trustee to the College Board in 2003-04 and 2004-05 and was instrumental in the construction of the new welcome sign at the south entrance to campus.

Dr. Jerry Corcoran, Vice President of Business Services and Finance, who made the nomination, said Simko “served with distinction.”

Simko worked on campus and across the state to register a record number of students prior to the 2004 elections, was one of just two student trustees on the selection committee that chose Illinois Community College Board President/CEO Geoffrey Obrzut, served on the college’s master plan committee, helped make IVCC’s Web site more user-friendly and instructed fellow student government officers how to effectively lobby state legislators.

Today Simko is pursuing a business degree at Drake University and working as the technology director for JVC Builders, a commercial real estate broker in Des Moines. He plans to attend law school and to work in corporate business.

Renowned cosmetic dentist Dr. John J. Derango of Peru has been nominated for the Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Dr. Derango, a founding member of the American Association of Cosmetic Dentistry (AACD), has pioneered innovations in porcelain veneers, bonding, cosmetic contouring, gum lifts and bleaching to help create beautiful smiles.

Derango travels the country and the world presenting his groundbreaking clinical techniques. He lectures 10-20 times per year and has lectured at the AACD International Meeting, to several dental “Study Clubs,” and at the prestigious Midwinter Meeting for dental professionals in Chicago.

Derango is one of just 38 distinguished Fellows in the 3,000-member AACD. His writings have been published widely in dental journals and magazines such as Dental Economics and the Journal of Cosmetic Dentistry.

Derango, who attended IVCC in 1970-71, has served on the college’s Dental Assisting program advisory board and the program has used his La Salle office as a model.

Since graduating from the University of Illinois Dental School in 1978, Derango has earned an additional 2,500 continuing education hours of study. He and his wife of 30 years, Diane, have four children including Jenna, a dental hygienist who lectures across the country with her father.