The 2006 Professional Recognition Awards were announced at the IBEA/NCBEA Fall Conference.

Pam Venturi and Linda Harper were recognized at the 2006 IBEA Fall Conference for their dedication to their classrooms, their schools, their professions, and their communities.

Ms. Venturi has been a high school teacher for the past 30 years and currently teaches at Washington Community High School.  Ms. Venturi has been very active in IBEA, serving as treasurer for the past seven years and also helping out as a chairperson and making presentations.  She has been a member of the Peoria Area Business Education Association –serving as Secretary, Treasurer, Vice-President, and President; Illinois Association for Career and Technical Education; Illinois Education Association; and Delta Gamma Alumni.  Ms. Venturi has supervised three student teachers, served as department chair and Tech Prep coordinator while at Woodruff High School, and served on three North Central Evaluation teams.  In 1992 she received the Silver Apple Award and in 1993 she won Peoria Area Teacher of the Year.

Ms. Harper teaches at Richland Community College.  She has been teaching business education for over 30 years with most of that time being spent at the community college level.  Ms. Harper has been innovative in the types of courses offered and the methods of providing courses.  She was one of the first instructors at Richland to teach online and has also served as Data Processing Coordinator.  Ms. Harper is currently Second Vice President of IBEA and has also served as a Member-At-Large, Secretary, MIBEA Representative, and Website Taskforce.  In addition to being actively involved in IBEA, she also has served in various capacities with MIBEA, IACTE, National Collegiate Secretaries Association and many other organizations.  Ms. Harper has presented at IBEA and NBEA and served as advisor to a chapter of Phi Beta Lambda.