CHAMPAIGN — The Champaign Urbana Schools Foundation is encouraging community members to submit nominations for three public school alumni awards to be presented on April 7 at the 2012 CUSF Gala.

The three different awards are the Distinguished Alumni Award, the Local Hero Award and the Local Business Community Impact Award.

The Distinguished Alumni Award recognizes graduates of Champaign Centennial High School, Champaign Central High School and Urbana High School.

Distinguished Alumni honorees may be nominated by fellow professionals, friends, family or local citizens, must be graduated from a Unit 4 or District 116 public high school for at least 10 years and must demonstrate exceptional contributions to society. Since 2003, this award has been given to 16 local graduates including journalists Roger Ebert and Bill Geist, Olympians Bonnie Blair and Nancy Thies Marshall, Admiral James B. Busey IV and Emily Stipes Watts.

The Local Hero Award celebrates the individual who successfully graduated from either the Champaign Unit 4 or Urbana School District 116 high schools and willingly volunteers time and effort to benefit the local community. The honoree must live within either of the districts' boundaries.

The Local Business Community Impact Award recognizes two local business owners (with the business located in District 116 or Unit 4 boundaries) who graduated from Champaign or Urbana high schools. Award recipients will have demonstrated an impact on the community through their commitment to philanthropy, service, volunteerism and support, with a particular emphasis on employing local high school graduates.

Nomination forms are available on the CU Schools Foundation website, http://www.cuSchoolsFoundation.org or can be requested by calling the CUSF office at 398-2873. Nominations should be mailed to CUSF, P.O. Box 1166, Champaign, IL 61824-1166 or emailed to info@cuschoolsfoundation.org.

The deadline for nominations for the 2012 Distinguished Alumni Award is Dec. 31. The deadline for nominations for the 2012 Local Hero and Local Business Community Impact Awards is noon Jan. 15.