Illinois Valley Community College Celebrates Top Student Achievements at Annual Awards Ceremony
Illinois Valley Community College honored nearly 200 students during its annual Student Academic Awards ceremony, recognizing strong classroom performance and campuswide writing achievements. Eleven students earned the prestigious Thomas J. McCormack Scholar title, requiring a 3.75 GPA or higher across the first three semesters while carrying at least 14 credit hours. The students named are Isabella Argubright, Ayden Barajas, Nathaniel Hansen, Nolan Hunter, Josephina Leone, Katlynn Monaghan, Tyson Phillips, Mariana Rodriguez-Martinez, Kevin Rynke, Lilliana Samolitis, and Lucas Tousignant. The distinction reflects consistent achievement and a strong commitment to academic excellence.
Several student writers were honored during a campuswide recognition event celebrating annual essay contest winners. McKinzie Tarbox received the Paul Simon Essay Contest award, while Cooper Lamps was named the winner of the Gandhi/King Peace Essay. David Escobedo earned the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Essay honor. Tarbox and Escobedo also shared their winning essays with those in attendance.
The event also recognized recipients of the Richard Publow Memorial Writing Award, which honors exceptional essays written in English composition courses each year. This year’s winners were Andrew Paden, Jaszmin Farley, Zoey Byers, and Chance Estes, highlighting strong student voices across campus.
Illinois Valley Community College honored students and faculty during a recent awards event emceed by Vice President for Student Services Mark Grzybowski. President Dr. Tracy Morris and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Vicki Trier presented awards and personally greeted honorees as the college recognized achievement across campus. The keynote address was delivered by Dr. Jon Hubbell, IVCC’s Criminal Justice Coordinator, who was also named the 2026 Stephen Charry Award winner for outstanding faculty. The event highlighted academic excellence, service, and the dedication of IVCC’s campus community.
Earning three-semester honors: Isabella Argubright; Ayden Barajas; Hope Baratta; Allyson Bohms; Gavin Bratkovich; Aiden Cheek; Brenden Christensen; Kaiden Connor; Luke Credi; Conlan Cwikla; Sarah Daugherty; Austin Davy; Aidan DeGroot; Bernadette Dittmer; Gabrielle Doyle; Gino Fascetta; Bhawna; Bria Frey; Coral Garcia; Natalie Glynn; Kailey Goetsch; Nathaniel Hansen; Mary Heermann; Charles Heiting; Nolan Hunter; Mina James; Lily Jeppson; Sarah Johnson; Cloee Johnston; Piper Kammer; Lauren Kolczaski; Ava Lambert; Josephina Leone; Litzy Lopez; Madelyn Mahnesmith; Jacob Maier; Torren Martin; Anthony Melendez; Jo Mindeman; Katlynn Monaghan; Meghann Ostler; Stacy Pavnica; Lizbeth Paz; Price Peterlin; Tyson Phillips; Eleanor Radtke; Vance Redlich; Jack Reppin; Mariana Rodriguez-Martinez; Kevin Rynke; Lilliana Samolitis; Brianna Sanchez; Danica Scoma; Alysa Sharp; Jadah Shipley; Aubrey Siebert; Adisyn Siekierka; Alan Sifuentes; Shae Simons; Madelyn Smudzinski; Malachi Snyder; Thomas Staton; Noah Steiner; Danielle-Crystal Sterner; Jakob Stumm; Clare Suarez; Robert Templeton; Ty Terzick; Lucas Tousignant; Lauren Trost; Nolan VanDuzer; Ariana Villalobos; Hailey VonPerbandt; Megan Wasilewski; Ian Watkins; Aieden Wenskunas; Brandon Wilson; Sidney Wilson, and Maya Zeman.
Earning academic honors for two consecutive semesters: Danielle Adams; Tayli Allen; Chloe Andersen; Alex Ankiewicz; Blayze Arndt; Esmeralda Avila; Charlotte Badger; Jace Baird; Kamdyn Becket; Lilliana Bernabei; Christopher Beyer; Kyle Bliss; Piper Brodbeck; Brandon Campbell; Devyn Castelli; Itzel Cervantes; Liam Clarkson; Stephanie Clift; Brooke Copeland; Morgan Day; Dawson Dresbach; Claire Durdan; Kaylee Dzurisin; Makenzie Eichelkraut; Michael Ellis; Natalie Eltrevoog; Claudia Englehaupt; Kambri Fisher; Luke Flanagan; Tracy Foreman; Sage Gallik; Sydney Ganskop; Diego Garcia; Erik Garcia; James Gassen; Todd Gay; Gabriel Glass; Amanda Golden; Miriam Gonzalez; Zulema Gonzalez; Dylan Gosdin; Robert Gray; Makenzie Hanson; Ava Hatton; Tiffany Hegland; Bryan Herrera; Morgan Hoscheid; Julia Johnson; Adam Kasperski; Katelyn Kiska; Anna Larios; Hailey Larsen; MacKenzie Law; Madison Longbein; Amy Luaisa; Mekenzie Martin; Evelin Martinez; Karen Martinez; Matthew Masters; Evey Meyer; Packston Miller; Agustin Mojica; Mia Moncrief; Ashli Moore; Kylee Moore; Rocco Morsovillo; Zoe Murphy; Emily Myre; Keely Nelson; Rutger Noordegraaf; Jose Ochoa; Ava Offermann; Olivia Orteza; Andrew Paden; Ethan Palaschak; Talia Peck; Kristina Penaverde; Michael Peters; Ryan Peterson; Palmer Phillis; Chelsea Piper; Logan Potthoff; Chelsea Ptak; Kiley Rhodes; Angela Ritter; Rafael Romero; Mason Ross; Ayipey Salinas; Brenton Sampson; Marissa Sanchez; Michael Scheib; Ryan Seibert; Ryan Slingsby; Tristin Solan; Ryan Stevenson; Nelson Stolp; Elliott Struck; McKinzie Tarbox; Thi Tran; Olivia Trolinger; Jamie Valadez-Castaneda; Nick Venjakob; Gwyneth Verona; Mary Verucchi; Haley Waddell; Hannah Waddell; Mitchel Wall; Ethan Waters; Av Weidert; Maya Wiggins; Olivia Wyzgowski; Chance Ybarra; Zachary Yborra; Carson Zellers, and Cassandra Zimmerman.