Culinary Instructors
Marcy Lautanen-Raleigh
Marcy earned a Bachelor’s of Arts in Anthropology with a focus on Native Cultures of the United States. She worked for 20 years as a museum curator and director, but changed direction and took her hobby and turned her personal passion into a full-time endeavor.
Growing herbs began in 1992 for Marcy after taking a class at an herb shop. She then started the Backyard Patch to market her herbs in 1995. Her programs have been listed as a "Best of the Best" in the Northern Illinois Library Association publication. Marcy is also a published author on subjects relating to herbs, both growing and using, and she is a regular contributing author to both The Essential Herbal Magazine and Wisconsin Herbalist.
Mark Lyons
Mark Lyons childhood interest in gardening sprouted into a lifelong love that he now enjoys sharing with others. He has been with Community Education since 2013. Mark is the founder of Green Thumb at Your Service where he can share his knowledge and inspire people to grow their own food through his classes.
Jill May
Jill May is an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach and the owner of Decide 2 Thrive, LLC. Her practice helps parents whose school age children struggle with emotional and mental health issues, have restricted or limited diets, and those parents who have special needs children. Using a variety of tools and techniques, Jill strives to help kids reach their full potential and truly thrive in life.
Jill is also a public speaker, educator, and has been with District 214 Community Education as an instructor since 2017. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Tennessee Technological University, has a Health Coaching certification from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and passed the certification exam for Certified International Health Coach.
As the parent of two boys, both of whom have struggled with a variety of challenges, including ADHD, OCD, learning disabilities, anxiety and depression, as well as one who has a serious medical condition, Jill is uniquely qualified to work with, support, and empathize with these families.
In prior careers, Jill worked as an Electrical Engineer with Motorola, Inc. and as a technical recruiter with Motorola, Inc. and The Coca-Cola Company.
After seeing the marked difference good nutrition made in her own sons' lives, she wanted to learn more and share that information with others, especially with parents of kids who are struggling.
Jen Paleracio
Jen is a mom of 2 wonderful girls and she loves to teach cooking classes. She has been a Community Education Instructor since 2017 and has worked in the food industry for 15 years. Jen is also a former Specialty Bakeshop owner. She helps make everyday cooking simple, flavorful, and with no artificial ingredients and loves to use fresh herbs and spices to naturally enhance the flavor of food. Aside from cooking savory foods, Jen is also passionate about baking and decorating cakes. When she’s not cooking or baking, she takes yoga classes to relax and create videos and design websites. Jen was born and raised in the Philippines and was 19 years old when she came to the US.
Jen went to college for Hotel and Restaurant Management. In addition, she studied at the Institute for Integrated Nutrition and acquired a certification for Health and Wellness Coaching. Her studies also led her to the Wellness Cooking Academy where she also became a Certified Wellness Cooking Instructor. Jen acquired certifications from Forks Over Knives for Plant-based Cooking and Colette Peters class for Fondant Cake Decorating and has also completed Chef Gordon Ramsay, two Master Classes, Alice Waters Master Class (the art of home-cooking) and Dominique Ansel's Masterclass (he's a James Beard Award-winning Pastry Chef). Her certifications also include the ServSafe Illinois Food Protection Manager Certification.
