41st Annual Commencement Program Celebrates Achievements of More Than 1,000 L&C Graduates

Cope Plastics President and CEO Jane Saale to Deliver Commencement Address

GODFREY – Lewis and Clark Community College’s 41st Commencement Ceremony will celebrate the academic achievements of 1,072 graduates in 2012. More than 200 students, along with their family members, are expected to attend the annual ceremony, scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, May 16 in the Hatheway Cultural Center’s Ann Whitney Olin Theatre.

This year’s address will be delivered by Lewis and Clark Community College Foundation Vice President and President and CEO of Cope Plastics Jane Saale. A lifelong resident of this region, Saale graduated from Alton High School in 1983 and received a Bachelor of Science degree in business from Eastern Illinois University in 1987. Saale began her career at Cope Plastics in sales that same year and became the chief financial officer in 1996. She has served as president and CEO of the company since October 2004.

Cope Plastics is consistently ranked among the top 150 Privately Held Companies in the St. Louis region based on annual revenue. Cope Plastics is active in the community with the River Bend Growth Association, Pride, Inc., North Alton-Godfrey Business Council and various other organizations.

Saale also serves as vice president of the International Association of Plastics Distribution Board, is a member of the Southern Illinois Employer’s Association Board and serves as a member on the Saint Anthony’s Health Center Board. She is an active member of Godfrey First United
Methodist Church, and she and her husband Steve share five children and reside in Brighton.

“As a lifelong resident of this region, a successful business person and an area employer, Jane will connect well with our graduates and share with them advice on finding true success as they leave Lewis and Clark to enter the workforce or continue on at a four-year institution,” Lewis and Clark President Dale Chapman said.

Doors of the Ann Whitney Olin Theatre will open at 7 p.m. Additional seating will be provided in The Commons, where the ceremony will be broadcast live on two large screens. A reception for the graduates and their families will immediately follow the ceremony, also in The Commons.

For more information call the Lewis and Clark Public Relations Department at (618) 468-3220.

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