This summer, North Central College’s Chinese program and Xilin Asian Community Center of Naperville cosponsored a series of four workshops for teachers of Chinese. Some were held on the College’s campus. Titled “Chinese Teacher Workshops: Enhancing Effective Language and Culture Teaching,” the series seeks to develop a community of Chinese teachers and foster pedagogical growth and exploration.

Topics covered general technologies for language learning and teaching, methodologies for various contexts, approaches to teaching Chinese culture and general professional skills.

North Central College celebrated its 147th Commencement on June 9 by conferring degrees on 692 students. The following list of students completed requirements for their bachelor or master degrees during the academic year that includes the December 2011, April 2012, June 2012 and September 2012 terms.

June 13, 2012—One of the perks of being Illinois Teacher of the Year is throwing out the first pitch before a Cubs game at Wrigley Field.

North Central College alumnus Josh Stumpenhorst experienced his day at the Friendly Confines on Tuesday, June 12, before a night game versus the Detroit Tigers. Stumpenhorst attended with his wife and their two young children, who were excited to meet Cubs pitcher Alberto Cabrera.

“Cabrera just talked to my boys and signed a ball,” Stumpenhorst Tweeted before the big moment. “They are in heaven.”

The North Central College Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) team was recognized as a Top 5 National Finalist for its work in the SIFE Lowe’s Community Improvement Challenge. The project partnership was open to all SIFE USA colleges and universities, or approximately 800 schools. North Central’s SIFE was one of 35 schools that received a grant to take part in the community improvement project. Five schools were selected as national finalists and each was awarded a $5,000 prize.