Template for ELHS Classmate Life History and Information Sharing
(See updates, below.)
Personal Information:
· Name when in high school yearbook: Janina Bielinski
· High school nickname: Nina, at times
· Legal name today (if different): Janina Latack
· What do people call you now?: Janina
· Address: 4391 E. Orchard Dr., Tucson, AZ 85712
· Email contact: jlatack@comcast.net
· Phone number (if you want): (520) 881-4196
Current life situation (retired working, volunteering, etc.):
I’m having fun working in three related positions:
Career Guidance Specialist, YWorks Skills for Successful Employment Program, YWCA of Tucson
Counselor, Pima Community College
Consultant, McFletcher Corporation (see below for more information if you would like.)
I have done volunteer teaching with Literacy Volunteers and Pima College helping students in ESOL classes – English for Speakers of Other Languages. This is the current term for what used to be called ESL (English as a Second Language). The students are wonderful and I learn about other cultures – and for many of these students, English is not their Second language, it is their third or even fourth language!
Family history (spouse, children, dogs, etc.) :
My son Andy will be 35 years old this year – wow how time flies. He lives on Long Island with his wife Jessica who is completing her PhD in Clinical Psychology at SUNY Stonybrook. Andy is an attorney with Creative Artists Agency - CAA Sports. They represent professional athletes, player-managers and provide business services to the sports world. He has a very fun job with a company that treats their employees well – as a Mom that’s very important to me. I love visiting them in New York whenever I can.
My sister Karen and her husband Rick Gringhuis also graduated from ELHS and live in Chicago. I also really enjoy visiting them primarily in the summer of course. Karen is a ceramic artist and Rick works part-time at the Apple Store on North Michigan Avenue, another very cool job.
Current hobbies and interests: Tennis, walks in Sabino Canyon, Mexican culture, practicing my Spanish.
I’m also a movie buff and started a monthly movie group with my neighbors. Love to cook and putter in the kitchen -- when I retire, I plan to work for a catering company in New York City and tutor Spanish-speakers who are learning English.
Claims to fame (books, awards, etc):
One of my current work activities is with a small, interesting consulting firm in Scottsdale. The McFletcher Corporation pioneered programs in Workstyle Patterns alignment and I support their certification programs. I enjoy working with them because they have very humanistic values about the importance of making the workplace as fulfilling as possible for all people.
http://mcfletcher.com/7_about/AboutPeople.htmlWhile I was on the faculty at Ohio State University, I published several articles on job loss, career transitions and stress. If interested, you can Google my name and they’ll pop up.
Anything else you want to share:
Thanks to the Committee for putting the reunion together. I’m looking forward to reconnecting with everyone. I have kept in contact with Berrie and Ed Lounsberry over the years; their son Ryan and daughter-in-law, Molly live in Tucson.
Education, Military Service or Training After ELHS:
· PhD, College of Business, Michigan State University
· B.A., Communication Arts; M.A. Higher Education Administration, Michigan State University
· Certificate, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), University of Arizona
Work History (dates, company name, location, title/job function):
· UCLA, Los Angeles, California, Administrative Assistant/Supervisor, Placement and Career Planning Center, 1967-1971
· University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, Career Planner, Career Planning and Placement Center – 1971-1976
· Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, Assistant Professor/Associate Professor – Department of Management & Human Resources – 1980-1993
· Right Management Consultants (formerly Nelson-O’Connor & Associates), Scottsdale/Tucson, AZ – Career Consultant, 1993-2008
· Private Practice, Career Consultant & Executive Coach: Maintain a small private practice working with professionals and executives.
· Pima Community College, Tucson, Arizona, Student Development Department, Advisor/Counselor – 2004-2010; 2011, August 2012-present. Have held several contract positions and they keep inviting me back!
· YWCA of Tucson, Tucson, Arizona, Career Guidance Specialist, 2010-present.
**********************Editorial Comment: Janina’s son Andy and his wife Jessica
Mar 2022 Update
... [Still] live in Tucson, AZ and see Berrie and Ed Lounsberry who spend winters here. Fortunately, I'm in excellent health, did not catch Covid, and could not be more grateful for my good fortune. I play tennis, hike, and recently started to practice Tai Chi daily which is amazing! When pandemic shut down hit, I started delivering prepared meals to fiends who needed support and that was a big uplift.
Apr 2026 Update
Current life situation:
Working part-time as a Tutor in English as a Second Language (ESL), Reading, and Student Success Strategies at Pima Community College. It’s a remote gig with their Virtual Learning Center and students log in using Google Meet – super fun! I didn’t think I’d like working from home but I’ve acclimated, and love not driving 20 min. each way several times a week. Gas savings are nice too!
For volunteering, I still cater prepared meals to my friends, a couple where the wife has the same disease that Stephen Hawking did and the husband is her sole caregiver. Until recently, I read live on-the-air and recorded for Sun Sounds of Arizona, a radio station that provides programs for the visually impaired and others who can’t read. But, alas, they were impacted but Federal cuts to PBS and closed their Tucson recording studios. So, I’m finding a new spot, either with the Pima County Libraries or Habitat for Humanity.
Gratefully, I’m in good health and also doing my prescribed PT exercises – even though I finished the latest stint of PT appointments many months ago. I learned the hard way that we must keep doing the things that “fixed” the problem – like maintaining our cars! I play tennis 2-3 times/week …..sometimes with a few sore muscles next day. But, regular exercises and workouts, plus doing Tai Chi do the trick.
My granddaughter, Louise is 5 years old and lives with my son Andy, and daughter-in-law Jessica in New York City. She’s a blast and we see each other as much as we can and through regular video calls.
A very sad event for me in March was the passing of my dear childhood friend, Berrie (Baker) Lounsberry. We’d known each other since we were 5 years old, when she moved in across the street from me on Kedzie Dr. We remained close chums, going all the way through college at MSU and after she and Ed moved to Edina, Minnesota. She and Ed had a home in Tucson for many years and I was thrilled and grateful to have that time with them.
Janina Latack
(520) 403-4425
