29 Tutors Graduate in Literacy Program

Huntington Beach Library’s Adult Literacy Services graduated 29 reading tutors from a Literacy Volunteers of America tutor training workshop.

The new tutors are Marisa Achee, Janet Alexanian, Kate Correia, Tina Den-Heyer, Noreen Dona, Autumn Elliott, Emily Fong, Barbara Galbraith, Doris Gunner, Alex Huang, Sheri Kasabian, Jackie Lees, Arlene Mayo, Marla Miller, Mai Ngo, Linda Toroeno, Mary Tran, Brian Toy, Kim Vu and Mary Zant, all of Huntington Beach.

Others are Kristin Brady, Fountain Valley; Mary Core, Liza Gampon, Faith Schreiber and Amy Skibbs, Westminster; John Gorrie, Fullerton; Elizabeth Gruber and Daniel Gruber, Santa Ana; and Diane Kissam, El Toro.

The library provides free private tutoring services to adults who want to improve their basic reading, writing and spelling skills.

Derrick Wong, of Westminster and Elizabeth Monette, of Brea have returned from a summer abroad as Youth for Understanding International exchange students. They lived in Japan with host families to study the language and culture. He is a Bolsa Grande High graduate and she attended Rosary High.

Vonna Hammerschmitt, director of the MESA (Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement) Pre-College Program for Orange County, has received the Wilbur Somerton Award for her efforts to promote math and science excellence for minority students.

The Newport Beach resident guides MESA efforts in three junior high and six high schools in Orange County.

The group assists African-American, Latino and American Indian students in earning math-based degrees.

Saddleback Memorial Medical Center in Laguna Hills won a Gold Medal in the recent American Hospital Assn.’s 10th Annual Touchstone Awards program. The competition drew 853 entries in 20 categories.

Saddleback’s winning entry in the employee communications category was “Just the Facts,” a campaign in which employees promote hospital programs within the community.

Scholarships totaling $20,000 were awarded by the Hoag Hospital Auxiliary to 14 Hoag Hospital Registry nurses who are studying for bachelor of science degrees in nursing.

The auxiliary awarded the funds based on accomplishments in specialty and clinical areas, financial need, scholastic and professional excellence and commitment to Hoag employment.

The award recipients are Trinh Beko and Claudette Wieland, Irvine; Lynda Chapman, Rosemarie Hill and Janet Tamez, Newport Beach; Alanna Conrad, Laguna Niguel; Suzanna Krieger, Tustin; Cheri Graham, Susanne Johnson, Lori Limbocker, Vicky McGavak and Ellen Ommondson-Buss, Huntington Beach; Jill Groszkruger, Orange; and Winnie Sprague, Dana Point.

Cash scholarships of $300 and $400 were presented to 15 Fullerton teen-agers who worked in the city’s summer Volunteer Program that included leading games, arts and crafts instruction and supervising youngsters in summer parks and recreation programs.

The recipients are Toni Miraoka, Anne Kokayeff, Tina Govea, Stacie Ward, Mark Zandonella, Mindie Godbey, Rachel Vine, Xavier Mercado, Melissa Vreeken, Michael Verdin, Scott Davis, Robert DeLeon, Sacha Bice, Melaney Marchant and Ben Christensen.

Former Orange Coast College students Paul Magana, Martha Newkirk and Starr Parodi were inducted Oct. 12 into the college’s Alumni Hall of Fame.

Magana, an Irvine resident, graduated in 1972, later earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees and was a fellow at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education.

More recently he was director of Orange County’s AIDS Communication Education Project.

Laguna Beach resident Newkirk, a registered nurse before enrolling in 1966 at OCC as a re-entry student, later earned her bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees.

She was a UC regent from 1989 through 1991.

Parodi, a 1980 graduate of OCC, later studied music in France and has appeared as keyboardist on a number of television programs, including the Arsenio Hall show.

The Studio City resident is also a model.

Deputy Sheriff Daniel Salcedo, assigned to Dana Point, was honored by the Dana Point Chamber of Commerce for contributions to the community. He initiated a Volunteer Interest Program for senior citizens.

Father Jerome Karcher, associate pastor of St. Joachim Church in Costa Mesa and founder of Mercy House Transitional Living Center in Santa Ana, has been named the recipient of the 1992 Spirituality in Action Award from the Center for Spiritual Development in Orange. He was recognized for his “outstanding work for the betterment of life for the homeless.”

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