Beta Zeta named Five Star PTK chapter
Published or Revised June 02, 2008
For achieving goals set a year ago for chapter development, the Beta Zeta Chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society at Paris Junior College has been named a Five Star Chapter by the international PTK. "Helping students develop skills as servant leaders at Paris Junior College is a great satisfaction to Phi Theta Kappa Advisors," says PTK Sponsor Joe Jackson. "Kristi Hill and Kelli Simms have been innovative in initiating scholarship and leadership projects that help them serve their chapter, their college, and their community." To attain the designation, PJC's PTK chapter participated in a number of activities in three areas: scholarship, leadership and service. Each area must have four primary and four secondary goals. Scholarship projects included:- Sponsoring a seminar on Academic Freedom and the First Amendment at the 2007 TCCTA Convention.
- Visiting various churches, synagogues, mosques, and gurdwaras in the Dallas Metroplex to examine the differences in architectural styles of the houses of worship of the major world religions.
- Participating in four satellite seminars from the national organization that featured internationally known experts from the disciplines of economics, religion, government, and sociology.
- Attending a regional Honors Institute at Blinn College where members, advisors, and alumni shared a weekend of group study and lectures.
- Hosted and introduced Gretchen McCord Hoffmann, a lawyer with Fulbright & Jaworski in Austin, at the Library Section meeting at the 2007 TCCTA convention in Austin. Ms. McCord-Hoffmann spoke to community college instructors on the First Amendment, copyright, and Academic Freedom.
- Organized and led a team at the 2007 Lamar County Relay for Life.
- Traveled to the state capitol with the Student Government Association to lobby legislators about the benefits of community college education.
- Presented a leadership activity on implementing the Honors Study Topic at the 2007 Phi Theta Kappa Regional Conference at TSTC Waco, which focused on leadership programming provided by Phi Theta Kappa International from their Leadership Development Studies.
- Conducted an officer-training seminar for the officers of the three different campuses of Beta Zeta.
- Conducted a successful Clean Out Your File Cabinet Day campaign on the Greenville campus, which allowed faculty, staff, and students to throw out old papers for recycling in observance of Earth Day 2007.
- Collected over 50 boxes of books to donate to WorldFund, a partner of Better World Books that supports schools and libraries in Central and South America.
- Cleaned out and replanted the flowerbeds at the Greenville Center, a project that Beta Zeta has conducted for the past two years.
- Raised over $1750 through our participation at Lamar County's 2007 Relay for Life.