Northeast State’s Alpha Iota Chi chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) International Honor Society racked up several 1st place awards at the 2020 Tennessee Regional PTK Convention held Feb. 21-23 at Dyersburg State Community College.
The Alpha Iota Chi chapter won 1st Place awards in the following categories:
Distinguished Honors in Action Theme: Networks of Life
Distinguished Honors in Action Project: Cora Cox HOME trauma-informed near-peer mentoring project at Kingsport’s alternative school
Distinguished College Project: Students HOPE collegiate recovery program
Distinguished Chapter: Alpha Iota Chi
Distinguished Chapter Advisor Team: Teressa Dobbs, Erin Ferris, Jane Honeycutt.
“These students spent several months researching significant issues facing the College and community and committed to creating partnerships and taking meaningful action,” said Dr. Jane Honeycutt, assistant vice president for Teaching Excellence and Academic Services. “They have become servant scholars equipped to make the world a better place. I am honored to have had the opportunity to work with them.”
The chapter also took the 2nd Place award as Distinguished Chapter Officer Team. The chapter again received PTK’s coveted 5-Star Chapter and Chapter of Light distinctions for the year.
The 2019-20 chapter officer team are: Summer Hunley, president; Kayti Stout, secretary/treasurer/regional vice president-East; Leeah Sutton, vice-president of Scholarship; Taylor Wexler, vice-president of Leadership; Madison Collins, vice-president of Fellowship; Brittany Rowell, communications officer; Tuan Nguyen, Honors in Action chair; Zachary Staton, College Project chair.
Distinguished Chapter Officer Teams are nominated by the chapter advisor through the Hallmark Awards application process, and are chosen based on the team’s demonstration of an exceptional atmosphere of teamwork, leadership abilities, promotion of Honors in Action, other engagement in the Society, and enthusiasm for the Hallmarks of the Society.
For the chapter’s College Project, Alpha Iota Chi officers collaborated with faculty and the college’s office of Counseling Services to create Students HOPE (Hold On Pain Ends), a collegiate recovery program (CRP). The program consists of two support groups: a recovery group and a family support group. The project includes a student-led organization to support their peers. The CRP launched in February with regular meetings for students now held regularly on campus.
The chapter’s Honors-in-Action project researched how adverse childhood experiences cause long-term trauma to adults. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control report that ACEs contribute to a child’s lifelong violence victimization and perpetration, as well as their health and opportunity. The chapter sought to address this issue through a near-peer mentoring project at Kingsport’s alternative school.
Chapter officers and advisors now prepare to attend the Phi Theta Kappa Annual Convention held in Grapevine, Texas, April 2nd-4th.
Headquartered in Jackson, Miss., the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society is the largest honor society in higher education with 1,250 chapters worldwide. More than 3 million students have been inducted since its founding in 1918, with about 134,000 students inducted annually.
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