A couple weeks ago, the Raritan Valley Community College’s PTK team attended the 37th Regional Convention of Phi Theta Kappa as part of the summing up of the club’s 2023 work at the regional level. The convention was called “A Celebration of Success” and took place March 8-10, 2024 in Harrisburg, PA. The PTK Middle States Region includes 78 community college chapters from 5 states (Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C.). 175 participants attended the regional convention in support of their chapters.
The Raritan Valley Community College PTK Honor Society has a tradition of winning awards at the regional level. This year’s officer team upheld that tradition, winning many awards for their projects.
The 2024 awards included:
– Distinguished Honors in Action Project Award – 1st place.
The Honors in Action Projects combines Honors Study Topic exploration, problem solving, and action-oriented service to address real-world challenges in our communities. This year’s officer team explored the topic of how society sees college students playing and how in reality that play is different.
– Distinguished College project Award – 1st place.
The College Project is an excellent opportunity to collaborate with administrators and to support the mission of the college. This year, the officer team planned and implemented a project to support mental health, advocating for a sensory room and holding events that provided information and resources about mental health.
– 5 Star Chapter and Walk of Fame Chapter Award.
The plan organizes requirements into five themed categories or “stars”, RVCC PTK Team completed all 5 of them.
– Most Distinguished Chapter Award
Club President Jordan Nussbaum and Vice President Olivia O’Donnell were recognized as Distinguished Chapter Officers and the team of advisors Sara Banfield and Janelle Bitter received the award as a Distinguished Team of Officers. Technically, the PTK team in 2024 took all the most important awards in The Middle States Region. It was a resounding success!
Another important achievement of the RVCC PTK club is representing our college at the annual convention of the Eastern Communications Association, Cambridge, Massachusetts, on March 22-24, 2024. The PTK team’s research on the topic of how society sees college students playing was recognized by the scientific community as meeting the standards of research and was presented at the convention. This is a great achievement for the students of the community college, confirming the potential of students as future scientists. This is also a great opportunity to represent RVCC in the academic community at the national level.
This turned out to be possible thanks to well-coordinated work and the significant contribution of each current participant – Jordan Nussbaum, Olivia O’Donnell, Mikaela Lijo, Anna Quezada and Andrew Demcher. Special thanks to our talented and professional advisors, Dr. Sara Banfield and Janelle Bitter. The next step in the work of the PTK club is the representation of our Chapter at the International Convention in April 2024 in Orlando, FL. I am wishing my team good luck to the rest of the team!
About Phi Theta Kappa
Phi Theta Kappa is the first honor society recognizing the academic achievement of students at associate degree-granting colleges and helping them to grow as scholars and leaders. The Society is made up of more than 4.3 million members and nearly 1,300 chapters in 11 countries, with approximately 240,000 active members in the nation’s colleges. Learn more at ptk.org.
