The COD Paralegal Alumni Association is saddened to announce that program alumna Kathy Czernek passed away on July 26, 2021.  Kathy graduated from the program in 2014.  

The family is having a memorial to honor Kathy and to say last goodbyes.  Her memorial is at Salerno’s Rosedale Chapel in Roselle.  The memorial is Sunday, August 1, 2021, from 2pm-8pm.  The prayer service is at 6pm.  In lieu of flowers due to the unexpected death of Kathy, the family would appreciate any financial assistance with the memorial.  The family appreciates everyone’s support during this hard time.

If anyone has pictures of Kathy from her time in our program, please send them to codplglalumni@gmail.com so that we may pass them on to Kathy's family.

Kathy will be greatly missed.  Our thoughts are with her family during this time.

Since graduating the Paralegal Program in May 2019, Matthew has taken a series of unobtainable goals and made them into slightly somewhat unobtainable goals. The progress he has made he contributes to the program’s slogan of “Getting Better All the Time.”

Other than being an employee with COD as a librarian, in January 2021, Fox College in Chicago hired him as the main librarian, because they got him confused with another Matthew Johnson who was named librarian of the year. This Matthew has yet to tell them.

He has also been studying a new kind of writing, as he has been taking writing/improv classes at Second City. Matthew has been writing/performing shows on one of the smaller stages from time to time. Thus, proving that dreams can come true if you wait through a pandemic to perform at the most respected comedy institute in the nation. The opportunities are immensely plentiful, and continues to build connections through networking he learned how to do as an officer with the paralegal program. 

For Matthew, the paralegal program has taught him not only what good preparation and hard work means, but it gave him insights and showed him how to play a lawyer and judge on a stage. And for that, he thanks the program for everything.