好色先生

The Jeff Williams Tutor鈥檚 Scholarship has been established at 好色先生 to help students who have received tutoring while at the college. The scholarship鈥檚 donor, Darlene Williams, worked with the Moraine Valley Foundation to create it as a tribute to her deceased husband, Jeff Williams, who served as a tutor at the college for nearly 10 years.

鈥淛eff was a high school special education teacher, and he cared about education. His specialty was English,鈥� Darlene said. Before retiring, he worked in the Chicago public school system, spending most of his career at Kenwood Academy High School. Later, he followed his wife, who had joined the staff at Moraine Valley鈥檚 Tutoring Center after her retirement, and became a tutor in the areas of reading and writing. 鈥淛eff had certain kids who often came back to him because he knew how to deal with students with special needs,鈥� Darlene said.

Because of COVID-19, the family was unable to have a funeral for Jeff. The scholarship seemed like a nice way to honor him because of his strong commitment to education and for helping struggling students. 鈥淗is life stood for that, so it seemed logical to me. I think he would have been proud of it,鈥� Darlene said.

She described her husband as someone with a wide variety of interests. 鈥淗e played guitar. He loved theater, English history and a crazy mix of rock-and-roll, which is an unusual mix.鈥� In addition, he was a voracious reader who participated in his local library鈥檚 summer reading program each year and generally won the prize for completing the most books. 鈥淚t was a badge of honor for him,鈥� she joked.

The $1,000 to $2,000 scholarship will be awarded to students who have received tutoring while at Moraine Valley, have taken development math or English classes and are enrolled in one of the college鈥檚 career programs. It can be used for tuition, fees and textbooks. Darlene noted she and her husband worked with several students who faced financial issues, so she hopes the scholarship will help someone like them. 鈥淧eople are really struggling right now,鈥� she said.

Darlene explained that she and her father-in-law will be involved in choosing the scholarship recipient, and she feels this has helped them in their grieving process. She thinks others may find comfort in establishing a memorial scholarship for a loved one and said, 鈥淚f you want to put a positive action on a negative experience, this is a perfect way to do it.鈥�

For more information on creating a scholarship at Moraine Valley, contact Kristy McGreal, executive director of the Moraine Valley Foundation, at mcgrealc2@morainevalley.edu.