Graduation Saturday For 650 MCC Students

McHenry County College has more than 650 graduation candidates this spring who have applied for over 700 degrees/certificates (466 degrees and 241 certificates).

A new highlight this year will be a Distinguished Alumnus presentation by Mary Beth Siddons of McHenry, Class of 1983. She is president of ITW Food Equipment Group-Service in Ohio. Siddons is a recipient of MCC’s inaugural 2013 Distinguished Alumni Award, along with Andrew Zinke of Woodstock, undersheriff of the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office; Kimberly Keefe of Rockford, real estate broker, RE/MAX Plaza in McHenry; Steve Rankins of McHenry, senior vice president of corporate lending at First Midwest Bank in McHenry; and Matthew Lemke of Lakewood, owner of Summit Wealth Strategies in Crystal Lake.

Ryan McReynolds, 24, of Spring Grove, has been selected as the student speaker for the commencement ceremony. He will graduate May 11 with an Associate in Fine Arts degree and Associate in Science degree. His goal is to become a professional artist and show and sell his work in galleries.

Also speaking will be MCC president Vicky Smith, Ed.D. In addition, Lindsay Carson, instructor of Spanish, will lead the faculty charge speech. She is MCC’s nominee for the Illinois Community College Trustee Association (ICCTA) 2013 Outstanding Full-time Faculty Member of the Year.

Twins Joseph Ferguson and James Ferguson, both of McHenry, are graduating from MCC with Associate in Science degrees. They both were two-year starters for the soccer team and they helped MCC reach Region IV Premiership Division. Both are recipients of MCC’s Soccer teams’ Sportsmanship and Ethics Award and each received an Academic Athlete of the Year Award for earning a GPA of 3.00 or higher. Joseph will transfer to the University of Cincinnati to study philosophy. He also plans to attend law school and his career goal is to become a health care attorney. James plans to pursue a career in teaching and will transfer to Illinois State University this fall to major in education.

Other noteworthy students are Joe Bilodeau of Woodstock, distinguished chapter officer for Phi Theta Kappa, who is earning an Associate in Applied Science degree in Manufacturing Management and Laura Arboleda of Crystal Lake, who will earn her Associate in Arts degree two weeks before receiving her high school diploma. She also received the Academic Excellence as a Non-Traditional Student Award from MCC.