Six Women to Get Achievement Awards

Six women were selected to receive honors at the seventh annual Rancho Santiago College Women of Achievement Awards banquet Tuesday on the Santa Ana campus.

Paula Werner of Irvine will receive a community and public service award for her 17 years of community service, while Carole Anne Williams of Seal Beach will get the same award for her work as executive director of Interval House, a crisis shelter for battered women and children. Alisha Simjee, an Anaheim resident and associate professor of ophthalmology at UC Irvine who volunteers free eye service to the underprivileged, will receive a career achievement award.

Margie Fites of Santa Ana will receive a Program for Women award for helping women gain access to health care, and Sara Lundquist of Santa Ana will get a career and community service award for creating unique student programs.

Also, Santiago College student Susan Helm of Tustin, a divorced mother of five, received the Promise and Progress for Women award for her efforts to become self-sufficient.

Dung Ho, a student at Ralston Intermediate School in Garden Grove, won the $100 grand prize in the Day of the Teacher Poster Contest sponsored by the Garden Grove Education Assn. The theme was “Teachers Open Windows to the World.”

Newport Beach 4-year-old Caroline Parkinson, who is being treated for cancer by the nonprofit Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation in Orange, tossed the opening game ball at Angels Stadium to pitcher Mike Witt.

Witt was responsible for raising $20,000 last year for the foundation through his “Strike Out Cancer” program.

Bingo chairman Walter Natras was named Elk of the Year of Mission Viejo Elks Lodge 2444 for helping to raise $60,000 during the past year through bingo games at the lodge. He received a reserved parking space for a year as part of his honor.

Avron Thomas, geometry teacher at Silverado High School in Mission Viejo, was selected to receive a certificate of appreciation by the Saddleback Laguna Masonic Lodge, which has declared April as Public Schools Month.

Thomas was selected “for outstanding work in the presentation of geometry as a subject that applies to everyday activities such as construction of buildings.”

Eloy Rodriguez, professor of biology and toxicology at UC Irvine and a resident of Irvine, has been named the recipient of the Hispanic Caucus Award.

The American Assn. of Higher Education cited him for leadership and involvement with science teachers as well as kindergarten through college students in the Latino community.

Rodriguez is a noted researcher in cell biology and plant chemistry and also directs the National Chicano Council for Higher Education at the college.

Maxine Haun, who has been organizing Red Cross blood drives for 35 years at the Anaheim Rockwell International plant where she works, has been honored with the first lifetime achievement award by the Orange County Chapter of the American Red Cross.

During those 35 years, Haun has been instrumental in recruiting more than 62,000 donors, which has resulted in providing more than 250,000 blood products.

In addition, she wrote and implemented a plan for organizing a company blood drive.

Art Groos, Newport Beach resident and volunteer with the Service Corps of Retired Executives in Santa Ana, has been named Small Business Veterans Advocate of the Year by the Santa Ana district office of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

He was selected for his efforts to increase business opportunities for veterans as well as organizing seminars throughout Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.