JANESVILLE — More than 200 people attended Blackhawk Technical College’s 2nd Annual Golden Brick Awards on April 26 to honor community members, industry partners and Blackhawk alumni and staff who have gone above and beyond in the past year to advance Blackhawk’s mission and vision of preparing students for work and life.

“It is a pure delight to look out into this room … and see all of us come together and celebrate and honor this year’s distinguished Golden Brick Award honorees who have truly paved the way for not only our Blackhawk students, programs and facilities but ultimately our communities’ upward trajectory for positive economic health, prosperity and continued growth,” said Lisa Hurda, Blackhawk Director of Advancement & Foundation.  “Being the best partner for our community takes partners. We here at Blackhawk are grateful each and every day for the incredible partners we have. That includes not only who we are honoring today but also all of you in this room.”

The 2023 award winners are:

●  Technical Education Champion Award — James Otterstein

●  Philanthropic Award — Mick and Jane Blain Gilbertson

●  Community Partnership Award — HealthNet of Rock County, Inc.

●  K-12 Partnership Award — Dr. Kolleen Onsrud

●  Distinguished Alumni Award — Kristine Corwin

●  Rising Star Alumni Award — Emily Hopper

●  Distinguished Faculty Award — Michelle Weirich

●  Distinguished Staff Award — Laura Becker

The event was held at Blackhawk’s Conference Center on Central Campus and included several sponsors: 

●  JP Cullen — Presenting Sponsor and Technical Education Champion Award Sponsor

●  SSM Health — Philanthropic Award Sponsor

●  Blain’s Farm & Fleet — Community Partnership Award Sponsor

●  Angus-Young — K-12 Partnership Award Sponsor

●  First National Bank and Trust Company — Distinguished Alumni Award Sponsor

●  Ahern — Rising Star Alumni Award Sponsor

●  Nowlan Law — Distinguished Faculty Award Sponsor

●  Seneca — Distinguished Staff Award Sponsor