Lincoln Trail College announced the winners of this year’s student awards. Abbey McCord was awarded the Joseph C. Piland Excellence in Scholarship Award. Mallory Mundy was awarded the J. Rod Harmon Excellence in Service Award and Winter Harmsen was awarded the Bev L. Turkal Excellence in Leadership Award.

Lincoln Trail College honored faculty and staff members for their service at the 42nd Annual Service Recognition Night. Retiring English Professor Dr. Ann Wolven was the recipient of the Excellence in Teaching Award. It is awarded to faculty members who have demonstrated sustained excellence and have adopted innovative or highly effective practices to aid student learning.

Olney Central College is offering three summer hybrid math courses students can complete in just 6 weeks. MTH 1105 Trigonometry will meet from 8 to 8:50 a.m. and MTH 1102 College Algebra will meet from 9 to 10:50 a.m. OCC is offering MTH 1103 Liberal Arts Math for the first time as a summer course. The class, which meets math requirements for graduation, will be held from 11 to 11:50 a.m.  All three courses will meet Monday through Thursday, from June 7 to July 19, with Instructor Lisa Benson.

Top high school welders put their skills to the test during the First Brandon Blackford Memorial Welding Competition hosted by the Olney Central College Welding Program. Fourteen students from Richland County, Fairfield Community, Red Hill, Newton Community, Edwards County and Hutsonville high schools competed for scholarships and prizes during the event held at the West Richland Center in Noble.

Olney Central College students Stephanie Blake and Caleb Thomas have been named to the All-Illinois Academic Team by Phi Theta Kappa, the international two-year college honor society.

Registration Form Olney Central College Baseball is hosting Summer Little League Camps. Ages 6-8 will meet June 7, 9, 14 and 16. Camps for ages 9-12 will be offered June 8, 10, 15 and 17. All sessions will meet from 9 to 11 a.m. at OCC’s Dennis Conley Field. Rain dates are June 11 and 18.

Casey Wyllie has been named the head men's basketball coach at Olney Central College. He has served as the interim coach since June when Coach Mike Burris left to take an assistant coaching position at the University of Indianapolis.

Dr. Zahi Atallah has been named the 11th President of Lincoln Trail College. Atallah is from Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, where he was the founder of IncludED Consultants, an educational consulting firm that works to enhance student success, increase access to students with differing abilities and backgrounds, and provides classroom student support.  “I’m very blessed and humbled to receive this opportunity,” says Atallah. “I wanted an opportunity to work in a small community in the Midwest that shares the same interest in higher education that I have.”

Lincoln Trail College will offer a variety of community education classes over the summer, including a return of the popular Children’s Summer Theater and College For Kids programs. “We weren’t able to offer these programs last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Lincoln Trail College Coordinator of Marketing Chris Forde. “These are both very popular programs that bring more than 100 children to our campus each year. We also weren’t able to offer other community education classes for adults and we’re excited to bring those back too.

The Lincoln Trail College Music Department will present two concerts this Spring. The LTC Handbell Ensemble will have its concert on April 30 at 7 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church in Robinson. There is limited seating available for the concert and tickets are available at the church. There will also be a livestream of the concert at robinsonfumc.org/livestream.