Six St. Clair Graduates Honoured At 30th Alumni Of Distinction Awards

By Deborah Jones

Spring is here and for the most part everyone is in a good mood after the ups and downs of some unpredictable winter weather.

Here we are now with our fourth issue of 2023 and as usual, time is just flying by.

Our April edition is filled with stories supporting the local music industry and also a heck of a lot of good news, including my column here about six local award winning individuals.

The 2023 recipients (for photos see the back cover) of St. Clair College’s Alumni of Distinction come from diverse backgrounds, but they have all reached great success in their chosen fields.

The honourees for St. Clair College’s 30th Alumni of Distinction Awards and their respective category, listed first, are as follows . . .

(Business & I.T.) Bob Bellacicco, Reporter, Bell Media/CTV News Windsor, graduated in 1994 from the Business Advertising program.

(Creative Arts: Media, Art & Design)

Dan Janisse, Photojournalist, Windsor Star, graduated in 1989 from the Journalism program.

(Nursing/Health Sciences) Christine Knights, Owner/Registered Dental Hygienist, Bright Smiles Community Dental Hygiene, graduated in 2006 from the Dental Hygiene program.

(Technology/Engineering) Fil Grado, Advance Projects Technical Lead, Stellantis, graduated in 1997 from the Mechanical Engineering Technology program.

(Recent Grad) Julia Lane, Canadian AwardWinning, Multi-Sport Athlete, graduated in 2022 from the Community Integration Through Cooperative Education program.

(Community Studies) Cheryl Sprague, Executive Director/Founder, Delta Chi Early Childhood Centres, graduated in 1978 from the Early Childhood Education program.

This year’s list of honourees makes a total of 131 graduates recognized since 1992.

St. Clair College President, Dr. Patti France, points out that the award recipients will be asked to be guest speakers at convocation ceremonies in 2023-2024.

“Nothing epitomizes the importance of St. Clair’s role in the community quite as clearly as the Alumni of Distinction program,” France states. “Over the years, it has honoured graduates who have used their St. Clair educations to make truly exceptional contributions to the technological, economic, social and medical well-being of southwestern Ontario. The fact that many of our local honourees have subsequently gone on to be recognized with Premier’s Awards attests to the impact of a St. Clair education at the provincial, national and international levels. We’ll be celebrating all of that as we gather for the 30th annual banquet on April 15, 2023.”

John Feldman, President St. Clair College Alumni Board of Directors adds: “For 30 years, St. Clair has celebrated exemplary graduates who have been recognized for their groundbreaking achievements in a variety of industries. Entrepreneurship, research or public service: no matter where they land on that spectrum, these Alumni of Distinction are trailblazers who effect positive change across our community!”

This year’s Alumni of Distinction ceremony takes place on Saturday, April 15, 2023 in the Alumni Skyline room at the St. Clair College Centre for the Arts in downtown Windsor. Tickets are $75 and can be purchased until April 11 by calling 519-972-2747. For further details go to: StClairAlumni.com.

Congrats to all!