SIUC reunion, Denver, March 2009

The SIUC reunion was a success; it has been getting bigger as more and more people find out about it. This year we had a special treat: Mark Algren, President of TESOL, found out about it and came.

Denver had a huge blizzard the day of the reunion, and it snowed hard all day. Conventioneers were stuck downtown improperly dressed, but the real problem was not the snow or even the cold, but that you couldn't see. It was amazing that people ventured outside and found the place, but they did. And there were more who sent their regrets but were in Denver nonetheless. Being at TESOL and having SIU-Carbondale on your badge is a kind of reunion by itself, because lots of people bring up the subject with you. Here are some more people who came to the reunion:

Lou Coyne, living and teaching in Tokyo
Leah Miller, from National Louis University, Chicago, classmate with Mark Algren;
Kim Hughes Wilhelm and her husband, Tom from Macau, where, they say, they see Keith and Becky Pharis occasionally;
Jessica Montgomerie, our hostess, now teaching at Denver University, being from Denver and all, now, says Denver is great, she loves it, and she and her husband have bought a house and are fixing it up.
Rachael Crowley, living and teaching ESL in Colorado Springs
Cheryl Ernst, Julie Bird, Tamara Poss, Gary Linebaugh, and myself, all at SIUC now, so you don't need to know yet what became of us; and Mark Algren, president of TESOL.

To get on the e-mail list, so that you know where the next SIUC reunion is (at TESOL 2010 in Boston), write.

SIUC Reunion in Denver!

4:00 Thursday March 26th
Appaloosa Grill
535 16th St. on the pedestrian mall, between Walton and Glenarm
a couple blocks from the Convention Center

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Tell us where you've been!

Hironobu Kakinuma

Hironobu Kakinuma says hello and sends his regards to Linguistics CESL faculty and especially Mr. Olive, who just retired. He is teaching at a private junior and high school in Tokyo, and says that Japanese kids wear him out, but make him feel "good tiredness"...

Keith Kennetz

Keith writes:

I'm in Abu Dhabi...Defended my PhD and should graduate this May....saw John O'Neil (see post below) at a BBQ last week - many hours of wheat beer and carbondale stories - hopefully I'll be swingin' through town this summer....

(Emirates College of Advanced Education Foundations English Program P.O. Box 126662 Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates)

empty quarter, Dubai (John O'Neil)

John O'Neil sends these photos from UAE:

Saluki reunion, New York City

Reunion was held in the lobby of the Hilton, in midtown Manhattan. We did not have the pleasure of watching the Salukis play in the NCAA tournament this year, but spirit was high just the same. We saw and got updates from:

Robert Engel- graduated around 1994, and has been working for the Defense Language Institute in San Antonio. Also wrote a book: From College to Careers: Listening in the Real World, by Thomson Heinle. It's linked here.

Mary Ellen Durfee- graduated in around 1997; living and teaching in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Has fond memories of Saluki friends and the good old days around Carbondale.

Richie Brown- living and working in Crown Point, Brooklyn, was on his own home turf. He and his wife are looking forward to visiting southern Illinois, and running the River to River race.

Ania Hreczuch- living and working in Champaign, but sick of it. Is considering moving either to Turkey, or to the remote South Pacific. That will get her out of the midwest, won't it?

There are more; I tell them to spread the word. If you'd like to be on the e-mail list, write me. If you'd like to post here and tell us what you're up to, please do (follow directions to the side). See you in Denver!

Sandy Isaak-Miura

Sandy says she's teaching at Kansai Gaidai University in Japan- this is a university, by the way, that sends CESL some of its best students. She can't make it to TESOL- but she's sure to catch up to us eventually!


Sandy Izaak-Miura

Nelly Corbit-Smith

Nelly reports that she can't come to TESOL because Samuel was just born, but she will share pictures with anyone who is interested!

TESOL in New York City

SIUC had a reunion- at the Hilton, Friday evening, April 4th. Various reports will appear above.

Carol J. Compton, MAESL 1968

Dr. Compton stopped by at SIUC the other day, on her way to a conference of the Association for Asian Studies in Atlanta. She is the editor of The Journal of Southeast Asian Language Teaching, which is entirely online, she said, and though retired, she'd had a good career as a linguist, editor and language teacher, with many fond memories of SIUC in the old days of the barracks (now gone) and a degree that sounds funny to anyone who has been here less than thirty years.

She promised to send pictures- or perhaps scan them, so we can have some idea of what life was like back then. We plan to hold her to her promise...if at all possible. -TL

Mark Algren, 1982

Congratulations to Mark Algren (1982), graduated from this very program, who has now been elected as Incoming President of TESOL. Good luck, Mark!