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Alumni Stories
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$1 MILLION GIFT TO KC FOUNDATION
“Activist, philanthropist, friend” These were just a few of the words used to describe
Mary Albert O’Neil of Vandalia as the executors of her estate announced one of the
largest individual gifts ever received by the Kaskaskia College Foundation. While
Attorney Patrick Schaufelberger and CPA Dale Timmermann did not announce the
actual amount of the bequest O’Neil left to the College, they did say it will exceed
one million dollars. The announcement was made during the annual meeting of the
College Foundation held on April 27 in the College’s Lifelong Learning Center. This
gift will make Ms. O’Neil’s contribution to Kaskaskia College more than $1,150,000.
Ms. O’Neil also contributed to the construction of KC’s first ever branch campus in
Vandalia.
Dr. Jim Underwood said the announcement is exciting news for Kaskaskia College
and will help the College continue with its outreach programs, taking education to the
people through the arts, Performing Arts and Science.
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AMBER EDWARDS IS NAMED 2009 PACESETTER AWARD WINNER
Kaskaskia College is proud to announce that Amber
Edwards of Mulkeytown has been named the 2009 ICCTA
Pacesetter Alumnus Award winner.
Edwards, is a faculty member in the KC Radiologic
Technology Program. She began school at Kaskaskia
College as a young mother and has excelled in every
aspect of her education and career since. She was an
excellent student and exhibited great passion for her
chosen career field of Radiologic
Technology. This was evidenced
by her commitment and
dedication to furthering her
training and to making significant
contributions to the educational
program, despite the logistical
difficulties she faced. After
earning her Associate Degree, and
obtaining employment in the
medical field, she chose to return
as an instructor at KC in order to
train other students in the
Radiologic Field. While she
began as a part-time instructor,
she has since earned a
full-time position as an Assistant Professor of Radiologic
Technology.
She has also gone on to pursue additional program
certifications, her Bachelor’s Degree, and intends to
pursue her Master’s Degree, in order to enhance her
professional abilities.
She has accomplished all this while raising a young
family and while serving as the sponsor for the Student
Radiology Club. Ms. Edwards has most definitely set the
pace for others and is a shining
example of a community college
success story.
Amber has been an inspiration for
other young people to follow their
dreams and accomplish their goals,
despite obstacles that may be
present in their lives. Her success
as a Professor is demonstrated by
her continual efforts to enhance her
qualifications and her unending
desire to improve her teaching
methods and curriculum. Amber
has also been selected as the
Statewide Award Recipient.
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2007 KC GRAD WHITNEY KAMPWERTH IS NOW LAW STUDENT AT UI CHAMPAIGN
Whitney Kampwerth of Carlyle did something two years ago that no other student at
Kaskaskia College has ever accomplished. She graduated from Carlyle High School and
Kaskaskia College at the same time! Because of her dedication to her education, she has now
become a Law Student at the University of Illinois Champaign at the age of 20.
While a student at Carlyle High School, Kampwerth took full advantage of as many dual
credit classes and online courses that she could which allowed her to apply and eventually
receive a Transfer Student Scholarship at the University of Illinois at Springfield. “Because of the offerings that
Kaskaskia was able to provide, I was able to get a jump start on my goal of attending law school and pursuing my
career as an attorney. Kaskaskia allowed me to take my general education classes before I attended UIS so I could
jump right into the classes pertaining to my Legal Studies major and Communication minor.”
Kampwerth is now a graduate of the University of Illinois as Springfield and has now been admitted to The
University of Illinois College of Law in Champaign-Urbana for Fall 2009. She plans to graduate in May of 2012.
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COACH LARRY SMITH INDUCTED INTO NJCAA HALL OF FAME
Already in the Kaskaskia College and
Centralia Sports Hall of Fame, Larry
Smith is now being remembered for
his work on the baseball diamond at
the national level.
Having retired in 2002 after spending
36 years as the only baseball coach
Kaskaskia College had ever known,
Smith was inducted into the National
Junior College Athletic Association’s Baseball Coaches
Hall of Fame in May, when the NJCAA held the Division
World Series in Grand Junction, Colorado.
Born in Decatur, Smith left the tiny Central Illinois town
of Cerro Gordo in 1966 to assume the head coaching
duties at Kaskaskia. He piloted the Blue Devils through
the 2002 season before announcing his retirement, and
along the way, Smith became as much as a molder of
young men as he was a baseball coach.
“I always looked at it like I had two years to prepare them
for life and not for a career in professional baseball,” said
Smith, who had 15 players drafted and three who made
the major leagues during his tenure at Kaskaskia.
In his three dozen years at Kaskaskia, Smith’s Blue Devils
captured six conference titles, including their one and only
Great Rivers Athletic Conference championship in 1988.
From his first day at KC, Smith tried to get the job done
with local talent.
“In my 36 years, we had six players not from Illinois,”
said Smith, who had Kaskaskia’s home field dedicated in
his name in 1999. “We had some very good kids and we
had some teams that were made up of all in-district kids. I
always wanted to see our kids have the chance to
succeed.”
Smith, who amassed 847 wins in his time at Kaskaskia,
won his only Region XXIV title in 1991, doing so with a
team that was seeded dead last in the eight-team field that
began the postseason in sectional tournaments.
The Blue Devils, after upsetting top-seeded Rend Lake to
win one of the six sectional titles earned by teams coached
by Smith, advanced to the Region Tournament, which was
played at Springfield.
“We hadn’t won a game against any of the teams that
made it to the Region Tournament,” Smith said. “Things
just kind of went our way.”
In the championship game of the Region, Kaskaskia fell
behind Southeastern Illinois College 9-7 headed to the
bottom of the ninth inning but won 10-9 on a three-run
homer by Jon Behrens. It was the second homer and
fourth hit of the day by Behrens, a Carlyle native.
“For the life of me, I still don’t understand why they
pitched to him,” Smith said with a smile.
Most collegiate coaches often don’t let grass grow under
feet, and like many, Smith had opportunities to leave
Kaskaskia.
“Joe Uhls, the head coach at Southeast Missouri State, had
passed away,” Smith said. “I didn’t apply, but the
chairman of the interview committee contacted me and
told me they would be very interested in me applying.
“I could have had that job, but it was going to be a pay cut
of $20,000 per year, and with three kids, there was no way
I could do it.”
While Smith’s involvement with the program ended
officially in 2002, any time spent with his family will
serve as a reminder of his tenure. Smith’s son Darin, who
currently is the athletic director at Carlyle High School,
played for his father, while daughters Angie and April
each married players coached by their dad. April Smith,
who now lives in suburban Chicago and is involved in
education administration, married Jeff Mahy, while Angie
Smith is married to Dr. Doug Kruse of Breese.
“I’d like to think I recruited good kids,” Smith said. “My
daughters are married to two of them. Doug always jokes
that he wished he knew he was going to marry Angie
because maybe he would have gotten more playing time.”
In all, a total of 642 players donned KC’s blue and white
under Smith.
“There aren’t too many of them that I don’t have some
idea of where they are and what they’re doing,” Smith
said. “Out of all of them, not too many ever had trouble
with the law, and most of them went on to become very
successful in whatever they chose to get into.”
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JEFF JONES CREDITS KASKASKIA COLLEGE FOR HIS SUCCESS
For Jeff Jones, age 23, Kaskaskia
College was a big step up the
ladder to a good start in the
business world.
Jeff, born and raised in Centralia,
attended Kaskaskia College from
2004 to 2006. He now works for
American General Finance in
Maryville, Illinois as a financial
representative. He credits his two
years at Kaskaskia College as a
major factor in his success.
Jeff was born March 20, 1986, at
St. Mary’s Good Samaritan
Hospital in Centralia. He attended
the Centralia City Schools and
Centralia High School, where he
graduated with high honors. He
was vice president of the
Fellowship of Christian Athletes,
was on the tennis team which went
to state in 2004 as a doubles player and was a May Fete
escort in 2004.
At Kaskaskia College, he graduated Summa Cum
Laude, with a 4.0 average, and was on the Dean’s List
and President’s List. He was a member of the College
Rotarac Association, Core Values, Phi Theta Kappa and
Students in Free Enterprise.
He transferred his credits to Southern Illinois University
at Edwardsville, where he also graduated Summa Cum
Laude, with a 3.905 grade point average. He was active
there in club volleyball.
Jeff has many memories about Kaskaskia College and
the major contribution it made to his development and
subsequent start to his career.
“KC was an enjoyable time where I learned a great deal
in my classes, valuable lessons in my extracurricular
groups and made some good memories and
friendships,” he said.
“KC gave me the opportunity to
challenge myself and discover
what I wanted to pursue in life.”
While a student at Centralia
High School, Jeff took full
advantage of the dual credit
course offered and was able to
transfer in 36 credits from CHS
to Kaskaskia. “I would
encourage anyone to take dual
credit classes if possible. They
are a great 'head-start' to
college as they give you the
opportunity to earn college
credit without doing any extra
work. They gave me the
opportunity to earn college
credits before ever officially
enrolling at KC, and they gave
me a great start in my college
career.”
Jones feels that KC is a great place to begin your
education because it is a very accommodating, yet
challenging place of learning. “The staff and faculty are
not only committed to helping students discover a path
of learning but also focused on providing quality
courses in a positive environment. KC is a great place to
take some general requirements at an affordable price
that still gives you the knowledge needed to move onto
a university, etc. “
“I appreciate the faculty and staff who always gave me
the support and encouragement. I thank you for giving
me a great start to my college career and for guiding me
in the right direction.”
Jeff has many people at Kaskaskia College who made a
special contribution to his education and career
development. He listed some of those people, including
Jill Tomasczewski, Sharon Conners, Dr. James
Underwood, Travis Henson, David Quinn, Louis
Fogleman and Tom Courtney and Cathy Karrick.
Jeff is the son of Michael and Sheree Jones of Centralia,
and Michael is a 1968 graduate of Kaskaskia College.
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NEW SCHOLARSHIP
Kaskaskia College has received several new scholarships in recent months. Leo and Ruth Barczewski
from Nashville provided $5,000 scholarship which will benefit a graduate of a Washington County High
School each year. Gene and Bonnie Huels created the Gene and Bonnie Huels Scholarship and The
Maschoff’s, Inc. created a scholarship that will benefit families of their employees. The KC Massage
Therapy Program also established an annual scholarship for students accepted into the program.
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Dale Ford
Kaskaskia College recently honored alumnus Dale Ford as its 2010 Distinguished Alumnus. Ford
graduated from Kaskaskia College in 1977, and during his time here, he was an outstanding student
and a member of Phi Theta Kappa. After graduating from KC, he went on to receive both his
Bachelor’s degree and Master’s degree from Eastern Illinois University. He has received several
professional certifications in the areas of school psychology and counseling, and is currently employed
as the Counselor and Department Chair at the Singapore American School. Established in 1956, the
Singapore American School (SAS) is an independent, non-profit, co-educational day school offering an
American based curriculum for preschool through grade 12 expatriate students.
During his career in Singapore, Ford has made many contributions to the International community and has unselfishly
provided assistance to others in some of the world’s greatest catastrophes. In addition, he works with young people in
pursuit of service learning opportunities in various Asian countries. Kaskaskia College is honored to recognize Dale
Ford as its 2010 Distinguished Alumnus.
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Dr. Bennie Upchurch
Dr. Bennie Upchurch is now the chief of the Division of Gastroenterology at the Creighton University
Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska. As an Associate Professor in the Creighton University School of
Medicine, Dr. Upchurch comes to Creighton from the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. Last year Dr.
Upchurch was honored by the city of Centralia for his accomplishments. He told students at that time
to keep their eye on the goal and they can do anything they want.
Upchurch admitted he was not a good high school student and woke up when he realized where he was academically in
his graduating class. He says once at Kaskaskia College he began applying himself, learned study habits, and took
advantages of resources in the community to become a straight A student and eventually make his way through medical
school.
After graduating from KC, Dr. Upchurch received his gastroenterology fellowship training at Ohio State University
Hospitals in Columbus, Ohio, where he was the chief clinical fellow. He completed his internal medicine residency at
the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and earned his medical degree at the University of Iowa College Of Medicine in Iowa
City, Iowa.
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