Governor to join First Lady’s visit to Sauk Valley Community College

DIXON – Gov. JB Pritzker will be joining First Lady Jill Biden and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on Monday during a visit to Sauk Valley Community College.

The White House and the college announced the visit earlier this week, and officials will tour the campus and talk about the college’s program that would allow students to earn tuition by volunteering in the community. The event is closed to the public.

Biden, a longtime community college advocate and a professor of writing at Northern Virginia Community College, will be making her first visit to Illinois as First Lady, and it will be Pritzker’s first visit to Dixon while in office.

Lori Cortez, dean of institutional advancement at Sauk, said they were contacted by officials a few weeks ago to see if they could “highlight the great work the college is doing and the impact program.”

The college is looking to raise $10 million to fund the Sauk Impact Program, which would allow high-schoolers to earn up to 3 years of tuition and fees in a career or transfer program at the college.

Students would need to meet five criteria to qualify, consisting of registering for the program by Sept. 1 of their freshman year, graduate on time or early with their class, participate in 25 hours of community service a year totaling 100 hours, graduate from high school or an accredited home-school program within the district, and apply for at least one other local/state/national scholarship as well as complete FAFSA. More information on the program can be found here.

“I think this is an excellent opportunity to showcase the great work of our students, faculty and staff, and the Sauk Impact Program,” Cortez said Wednesday.

Check back at saukvalley.com Monday for extensive coverage of the First Lady’s visit.