DuPage County Health Department’s Gary Sooter received the Illinois Public Health Association Young Worker Award for 2006 at a recognition banquet this spring during the annual IPHA conference in Springfield.

Sooter has worked for the health department for nearly three years as a health educator in the Tobacco Prevention, Control & Cessation program.

In presenting the award, IPHA recognized Sooter for his work as head of the DuPage Coalition Against Tobacco and for his work in organizing a successful Kick Butts Week in April 2005. Kick Butts Week is an annual event directed toward school children with a mission of educating them about tobacco and encouraging them to never begin to use tobacco.

Sooter holds a master’s degree in public health and is a Certified Health Education Specialist.