ECC HOSTING TWO PUBLIC WRITER EVENTS IN APRIL
Elgin Community College has planned two public events in April featuring prominent writers.
Chicago Poet Laureate Mayda del Valle will lead a poetry workshop at 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 7, in Building B, Room 313, followed by a 6 p.m. appearance at the Writer’s Center’s monthly open mic coffee house in Building B, Room 275, according to a news release.
Born and raised on Chicago’s South Side, del Valle is the author of “A South Side Girl’s Guide to Love and Sex” and “The University of Hip Hop.” She started her career at the Nuyorican Poets Café in New York City, where she became the 2001 Grand Slam Champion.
Del Valle has appeared on six episodes of the HBO Max series “Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry” and in 2024 she was awarded the Letras Boricuas Fellowship from Flamboyan Arts Fund and the Mellon Foundation.
A week later, Jamaican American author Dennard Dayle will lead a fiction writing workshop from 2 to 3:15 p.m. Tuesday, April 14, in Building B, Room 313. He also will read from his book, “How to Dodge a Cannonball,” from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in Building B, Room181.
Dayle’s satirical novel follows a white flag-bearer pretending to be a Black soldier during the Civil War.
Dayle’s other works include the short story collection, “Everything Abridged.” NBC and New York magazine have done stories about his satirical art project that involved posting thousands of fake campaign posters across New York City.
Reserve a seat at the free events by going to elgin.edu/academics/writers-center.
BALLET 5:8 PERFORMING APRIL 11 AT ELGIN LIBRARY
Ballet 5:8 will present a program inspired by Sandra Cisneros’ book, “The House on Mango Street,” from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 11, at the Gail Borden Public Library, 270 N. Grove Ave., Elgin.
The free event will feature coffee, conchas (a traditional Mexican sweet bread) and a bilingual discussion, according to the library’s website. Attendees will also receive a free book.
This program is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and Arts Midwest. Ballet 5:8 is a Chicago-based dance company led by choreographer Julianna Rubio Slager.
To register to attend, call 847429-4597, visit the library or go to www.gailborden.info/events.
3 ELGIN SCHOOLS TO GET NEW PLAYGROUND SETS
The District U-46 School Board has approved spending $1.4 million to purchase new playground equipment from GameTime/Cunningham Recreation for three Elgin elementary schools.
Playgrounds at Century Oaks, Hilltop and Illinois Park schools need to be relocated due to construction at all three campuses, according to meeting documents. The existing playsets had been scheduled to be replaced in 2028 but are being moved up so they can done as part of the construction work, officials said.
The new playsets are inclusive and age-appropriate, officials said. Illinois Park and Hilltop will receive two sets — one for children ages 2 to 5 and the other for 5- to 12-year-olds. Century Oaks’ will receive one for the younger age set this year and another for older students next year.
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HEALTH DEPARTMENT ADDS NALOXONE BOXES IN ELGIN
The Kane County Health Department has partnered with community organizations to install publicly accessible naloxone dispensing boxes, making the life-saving medication easier to obtain quickly and discreetly.
The new boxes are located at the following Elgin locations:
Association for Individual Development,1135 Bowes Road;
Community Crisis Center Food Distribution Center, 37 S. Geneva St.;
Advocate Sherman Hospital, 1425 N. Randall Road;
Ecker Center for Behavioral Health, 1845 Grandstand Place;
Elgin Court Services, 113 S. Grove Ave.;
Kane County Health Department Elgin Office, 2170 Point Blvd.;
AID Supported Living, 691 S. State St.
Fourteen boxes have been placed in Aurora, one in St. Charles and one in Sugar Grove. There are already more than 100 box locations across Kane County.
Naloxone can reverse an opioid overdose. In Illinois, it is available without a prescription or identification, officials said.
Local organizations interested in hosting naloxone dispensing boxes or becoming distribution partners should email the Kane County Health Department at [email protected].
To find a complete list of distribution sites, including pharmacies, treatment providers, community organizations and public agencies in the Kane County, go to overdoseinfo.org.