Phi Theta Kappa News Reading Area Community College Alpha Sigma Rho Volume 7, Issue 1
Inside this Issue: Upcoming Chapter Meetings Vice President Election New Member Inductions Better World Book Drive Update President’s Message Advisor’s Message
October 2011
Get Involved! Upcoming Chapter Meetings Mark your calendar and get involved. Phi Theta Kappa is here for you and if you want more than just a cool title or an organization on your transfer application—you can make a difference. Phi Theta Kappa is involved in several volunteer and charity activities designed to get
students active and improve our college and community. If you would like to get involved, the best way to start is to attend our monthly meetings. Our past efforts range from getting students involved in registration, to clothing and book drives for the needy.
We need your help and input and so does your community. Think globally and act locally. (Continued on Page 2 )
RACCy Olympics
Welcome our New Vice President The Community College environment is fast paced and always evolving. Students come and go and this process has made the Vice President Officer position available. A great role for a motivated and inspired student. A motivated candidate has stepped up to let her voice be heard. In a landslide election Vanessa Soler was appointed as Phi
Theta Kappa’s New Vice President. Her duties will include: Perform all duties of the president in the presidents absence. Take roll at meetings. Act as program chairman overseeing Honors study topic implementation and Honors in Action activities. Serve as co-chair of College Project, coordinating the preparation
of the college Project Hallmark entry. Coordinate participation in Honors Satellite Seminars. Encourage and recognize academic excellence initiating and promoting scholarly endeavors beyond the honor study topic. Provide PTK Scholarship Info. Welcome Vanessa, we look forward to your insight and future involvement.
Phi Theta Kappa News
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Better World Book Drive
(From Page 1.) New ideas and help are always welcome at our meetings and we hope to see you there. Monthly meetings will take place from 10am to noon on Saturdays in the River Room. Monthly meeting dates are:
November 12th
December 3rd
Spring Semester:
January 14th
February 11th
March 3rd
April 14th
May 5th
The Fall Induction Ceremony, honoring summer and fall members, will be held on Friday November 11th @ 7pm. The Spring Induction will be held on Friday March 30th 2012 @ 7pm. Both ceremonies will be in the Berks Hall Conference Room. This schedule is subject to change.
Better World Books collects and sells books online to fund literacy initiatives worldwide. Phi Theta Kappa has been involved in this initiative by collecting used textbooks that a student would normally return to the book store and donating them to Better World Books. Instead of selling your books back to the bookstore for a fraction of what you paid, you can give your book to this great organization and lend a helping hand to this
world wide initiative. The worldwide impact of Better World Books has been tremendous. They have re-used or recycled over 70 million pounds of books and raised over $10 million for global literacy and local libraries. RACC and Phi Theta Kappa have been involved in the past and will be looking for more donations and volunteers this semester.
For more information on Better World Books please contact johnwandishin@ravens .racc.edu Or visit betterworldbooks.com
President’s Message The beginning of a new school year is a great opportunity to set new goals and strive towards greatness and that is exactly what Alpha Sigma Rho, your Phi Theta Kappa chapter hopes to do! I am honored and excited to serve this academic year as your
President and look forward to meeting you and hearing your ideas of how you would like to see our chapter flourish. Please consider coming out to a membership meeting, joining our Kappans for Caitlin team, volunteering in support of Better World Books, or help
ing with any of the other great projects we have in store this year! And don’t forget about all of the great things Phi Theta Kappa can do for you! Scholarships! Service! Leadership! Fellowship! & Fun! Patricia Chase Sturz
Phi Theta Kappa is the prestigious honor society for two year colleges. Membership acknowledges your academic achievement, provides access to scholarships, and offers participation in the local, regional, and national activities. Contact Dr. Donna Singleton for further information: dsingleton@racc.edu.
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Phi Theta Kappa News
Welcome Summer 2011 Inductees The following names are the new inductees to Phi Theta Kappa:
Chapter Officers:
Patty Chase Sturz President
Jamille Artis Kathleen Beatrice Heather Boyer Cody Brown Gwen Burgis Katelynn Chambers Jennifer Chelius Kadera Ferguson Todd Frizzell Andrea Gardner Neil Hassler Jed Holzmacher Dylan James
Laura Lievano Anushka Liyanage Patrichia Mowad Maria O'Brien Mary Portalatin Amanda Rea Tonya Reedy David Rich Julia Santangelo Ashley Shenk Marilyn Smith Vanessa Soler Stephanie Stricker Paula Thanhauser Crystal Wanner
Congratulations and welcome to Phi Theta Kappa. We look forward to your participation and commitment.
dents have misconceptions about taking Honors. They fear the classes will be too hard or their GPA will go down. These fears are unfounded. Honors courses provide an enriched experience, not necessarily more work. These smaller classes lead to more interaction with the faculty and classmates; a close cama-
raderie usually develops. In addition there are other benefits: specialized courses, scholarships, and even tickets to Miller Center performances. You already qualify, so check out the Honors Program on the RACC webpage or contact the Honors Coordinator, Dr. Singleton at dsingleton@racc.edu.
Vanessa Soler Vice President Theadra Graczyk Secretary John Wandishin Treasurer Mark Krotee Public Relations Officer Toni Jones Student Activities Board Dr. Donna Singleton Advisor
You Qualify! Qualifying for Phi Theta Kappa shows that you are a conscientious motivated student. You clearly take your education seriously and work hard. Did you know that you qualify to take Honors courses too? Students who qualify by placement test or students with a 3.25 GPA can take Honors courses. Some stu-
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Phi Theta Kappa News
From the Advisor’s Desk: Interested in Two Years of Free Tuition to a State University? Each year RACC selects two students to be recipients of two years of tuition at one of the fourteen Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education universities, such as Kutztown, West Chester, and Millersville, for example. These recipients are selected from the applicants to the ALL-USA ALL-PA Academic Team Scholarship. This competitive scholarship is sponsored jointly by USA TODAY, Phi Theta Kappa, Coca-Cola, and Follett. In addition to the tuition granted
through the state-level competition, many other facets of this competition can bring monetary awards of $1,000 to $2,500, and recognition nationally. The online application will be available beginning October 1 and must be submitted by RACC administration by December 1, 2011. RACC has been fortunate in having several of our students attend Kutztown University for two years to complete their bachelor’s degree as a result of this program. At the flat rate fee of $3,120 per semester, for four semesters, being se-
lected as RACC’s nominee represents some $12,480! Last year’s recipients were Marilyn Miller and Jonathan Carlson. In addition to the tuition, Marilyn Miller was also named the top scoring applicant in Pennsylvania and as thereby named one of fifty New Century Scholars and also received a $2,000 scholarship. She was recognized at a banquet in Harrisburg, PA sponsored by the Pennsylvania Commission of Community Colleges and in New Orleans by the American Association of
Community Colleges. In 2005, RACC student Judie Ogin Senay was also named the New Century Scholar from Pennsylvania. Active service at the college or the wider community, an essay about the application of college learning, and letters of recommendation are some of the criteria used to select the nominee. Further information on this scholarship is available at www.ptk.org or from Dr. Donna Singleton, Y110 or dsinglton@racc.edu.
RACCy Olympics Our chapter needs to have five to ten people sign up for the RACCy Olympics so we can have a team. (The purpose of the team is to raise money for Caitlin’s Smiles. This is a college-wide effort as it was last year. The teams compete to raise money for Caitlin’s Smiles and then participate in a wild and crazy afternoon of fun and games.
Last year our Phi Theta Kappa chapter was the top team— Kappans for Caitlin. Let's do it again! The sooner we get the members to sign up, the sooner we get to share in proceeds for events that are happening on campus! The money gets divided between the clubs,
and we will miss out if we do not get our team organized right away. Members who are interested can respond directly to my email (tonijones@ravens.rac c.edu) , and I will put you on the list. We need to come up with a team goal, and each individual needs to have a personal goal of what they will raise. Thank you.