Information and News for the DeKalb Community here April 2023 City of DeKalb e-News letter
Author Archives: hoyle@dcedc.org
DeKalb County, IL is well known for its rich history of agriculture. In 1852, the first Agricultural Fair was held in Sycamore, under the supervision of the DeKalb Agricultural Society. Eventually farmers, businessmen, bankers, and newspapermen organized to become the DeKalb County Soil Improvement Association. In later years, the DeKalb County Soil Improvement Association would split into two and become DeKalb County Farm Bureau and DeKalb Agricultural Association (DEKALB AgResearch, Inc., Monsanto). DeKalb County is credited with being the birthplace of the Farm Bureau movement.
Education has played an important role in the area with Northern Illinois University located in DeKalb and Kishwaukee Community College located in Malta. A major fair has been held each year since 1887 at the Sandwich Fairgrounds in Sandwich. ( Information taken from https://dekalbcounty.org/about/history-of-dekalb-county/county-history/ )
DeKalb County Farm Bureau publishes a periodical called “Connections”. In the March/April edition, you can read about longtime DeKalb County natives, the Pritchard Family.
Many of you know that outside of farming, Bob Pritchard served from 2003-2018 as DeKalb County’s Illinois State Representative for the 70th District.
To read the article, please follow the link below.
Pritchard Farms Family Farm Heritage
DCEDC is grateful to all the DeKalb County farmers and their families for continuing its’ rich history.
The short-term training programs offered in Summer 2023 are:
Dental Assistant: May 7-Aug. 4 (Online Lecture/In-Person Practice)
Dental assistants are skilled health care professionals who work closely with dentists and dental hygienists to provide quality preventive and corrective dental care and administrative support in dental offices. In-person practice will be conducted from 6-9 pm on Tuesdays in a local dental office.
Pharmacy Technician: May 7-Aug. 19 (Online)
Pharmacy technicians assist pharmacists with dispensing prescription medication while performing various other duties in a pharmacy setting. Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) funding is available to those who qualify.
Phlebotomy Technician: June 12-Sept. 1 (In-Person)
Phlebotomists are skilled health care professionals trained to collect, transport, handle, and process blood and other specimens for laboratory analysis using venipuncture and micro-collection techniques. Instruction and in-person practice will be conducted from 9:30 am-noon on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays at Kishwaukee College.
Sterile Processing Technician: May 7-Aug. 11 (Online)
Sterile processing technicians provide support to all patient care services in a health care facility. They are responsible for decontaminating, cleaning, processing, assembling, sterilizing, storing and distributing the medical devices and supplies needed in patient care, especially during surgery.
Veterinary Assistant: July 23-Dec. 22 (Online Lecture/In-Person Practice)
Veterinary assistants are critical members of a veterinary staff trained to assist veterinarians and veterinary technicians with medical procedures on sick and injured animals. In-person lecture/practice will be conducted from 5-8 pm on Wednesdays at Ashton Animal Clinic in Kaneville and from 4:30-7:30 pm on Fridays at Ashton Animal Clinic in Ashton.
Registration for the Summer 2023 session opens online Monday, April 3. For more information on short-term training at Kish, visit kish.edu/shortterm.
This week, Governor JB Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) announced $175 million in available grant funding through the Back to Business (B2B) program for restaurants, hotels and creative arts businesses and organizations. Applications open on April 5, 2023 and interested businesses are encouraged to visit Illinois.gov/B2B for information on eligibility criteria, webinars, and to get support from more than 100 community navigators across the state.
Read the full press release for additional information
DCEDC is proud to support the Village of Kingston community and share their latest news.
Read the latest edition of Neighbor to Neighbor, the Village of Kingston’s e-newsletter by clicking on the link below to read as a PDF.
DCEDC Member news for you-
Illinois Community Credit Union began in 1935 as Sycamore Community Credit Union. Community leaders came together to form a financial institution that was owned by and operated for the benefit of the people of Sycamore and the surrounding area. Sycamore Community Credit Union provided a place where local residents could borrow at reasonable rates and have a safe haven for their life savings.
In 1996, as Sycamore Community Credit Union grew to serve other communities in DeKalb County and the surrounding areas, we changed our name to Illinois Community Credit Union. Though our name changed, our mission, original values, and commitment to serving our community remained the same. We continue to look to the future and find the best solutions to your financial well-being. To learn more about the Illinois Community Credit Union, visit their website here MyICCU Website
Scholarship information can be found below. Thank you for investing in the youth of DeKalb County, ICCU!
The Kishwaukee College Foundation awarded $123,461 in program enhancement funds to Kishwaukee College departments for the 2022-2023 academic year. The Foundation has a variety of program enhancement funds established by the generosity of donors for specific purposes. Funds support various needs, including educational support for instructors, new equipment, and testing services for students.
Faculty and staff share that the additional funds help departments meet their goals, provide necessary resources to students, and allow programs to remain competitive in the local community.
The following program enhancement funds have been awarded this year:
Evelina Jose Cichy Fund
Evelina Cichy started this fund in honor of her many years of service to Kishwaukee College. The fund is used to help pay for fees associated with the Illinois High School Diploma test.
John & Barbara Dant Memorial Fund
The fund provides financial support for the needs of the Math or English departments. This year, the fund has been used to purchase Math corequisite course materials and fund outstanding student awards for English.
First Midwest Bank (former NB&T) BID Class
This fund was instituted to provide support to area nonprofit organizations. The College works with the DeKalb County Nonprofit Partnership to use training resources at no cost.
Jobe-Lewis Fund
Suzanne K. Lewis established this fund to honor her mother, Doris V. Lewis, who obtained a nursing degree. Suzanne wished to honor her mother by helping support others who chose the nursing field. This year, the fund provided support for the nursing program’s “Hearing Voices” simulation lab.
Jenkins Presidential Endowment
The fund provides support to Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Honor Society to further enhance its activities.
Yvonne A. Johnson Endowment for Community Education
This fund is used for programmatic needs for the Fine Arts, Communications, Science, and Horticulture programs. This year, the funds supported the purchase of an automated seeding and environmental scanner for the Horticulture program.
KishHealth System Endowment
This fund is provided to underwrite the cost of health field instructors.
Leifheit Literacy Endowment
The Leifheit Literacy Endowment supports the adult and family literacy programs at Kishwaukee College.
Library Endowment Fund
This fund was started to support the operations of the Kishwaukee College Library. This year, the funding helped update the nursing book collection.
Lifelong Learning Endowment
Honoring the retirement of Judy Krajewski, former Dean of Community Education & Services, this fund was established to ensure a legacy of lifelong learning for future generations by increasing access to community education opportunities through scholarships in non-credit courses.
Matteson Horticulture Fund
The fund is used to support the programmatic needs of the Horticulture Department. This year, funds helped purchase an automated seeding machine.
Terry & Sherrie Martin Health & Science Endowment
The fund was born out of a deep commitment to education and strong faith in the values of Kishwaukee College. The endowment supports program enhancements for the Allied Health or Science programs. This year, the endowment supported the Nursing Program ACEN accreditation process and the purchase of science lab kits for students taking online courses.
Terry & Sherrie Martin PTK Endowment
The endowment supports the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Hallmark Award, which is a student scholarship. Terry Martin was a long-time advisor of the College’s PTK chapter.
Robert L. “Smitty” Smith Assistantship
The assistantship fund was established to honor Robert L. Smith, a highly regarded faculty member in the science department during Kishwaukee College’s early years from 1968 to 1975. The fund supports two student assistantships in science departments.
For more information on Program Enhancements, contact the Kishwaukee College Foundation at 815-825-9803 or visit kish.edu/foundationfunds.
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Photo Caption: Kishwaukee College students utilize microscopes during a science class. The Kishwaukee College Foundation provided funds for program enhancements during the 2022-2023 school year, including new equipment, instructional support and additional student resources.
The Kishwaukee College Board of Trustees voted unanimously to maintain the College’s current tuition rate of $147 per credit hour for the 2023-2024 academic year. This is the third year in a row of no tuition increase.
“Kishwaukee College prides itself on keeping tuition as affordable as possible for its students,” said Bob Johnson, Chair of the Kishwaukee College Board of Trustees. “We are proud to be increasing the programs and services offered to support the changing needs of students and our communities with no tuition increase again next year.”
Several factors have allowed the College to maintain the same tuition rate, including increased enrollment, increased property tax revenue from local economic development, and fiscal responsibility.
“Kish continues to focus on the needs of our students by providing equitable, student-centered education. We are fortunate to have the resources to support our students and fulfill our purpose of helping them create the life they want,” said Dr. Laurie Borowicz, President of Kishwaukee College.
For more information on Kishwaukee College, please visit kish.edu.
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Photo Caption: Kishwaukee College students will not see a tuition rate increase for the 2023-2024 academic year. The College’s Board of Trustees voted to maintain the current tuition rate for a third straight year.
Help us decide which local nonprofits will receive $5,000 to help support their work in our communities. And, the nonprofit with the most overall votes will receive an additional $10,000!
You can vote once a day, every day March 12-31, 2023. After all the votes are tallied, we’ll give: Click here to place your Daily Vote
$15,000 to the overall top vote recipient in our Illinois, Iowa, Northwest Indiana and select Southeast Wisconsin banking centers and $5,000 to the top vote recipients where our newest Old National banking centers are located.
