MESA — Cochise College’s chapters of Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society of two-year colleges and academic programs, were honored at the Arizona Region’s annual convention and award ceremony at Mesa Community College last weekend.
The Alpha Beta Zeta chapter, based at the Douglas Campus, received four chapter awards, an adviser award and had two of its members elected as regional officers. It was an especially exciting day for the chapter since it’s been at least 10 years since Alpha Beta Zeta has won regional awards or had members selected to serve as regional officers.
Spencer Whitman and Louie Garcia. (Photo by Flavio Beltran)
“Through the hard work of some of the officers and members of the chapter, we were able to receive these awards,” said second-year adviser Lisa Westrick. “I am very proud of the chapter.”
Louie Garcia was named the Arizona Region’s Vice President of Communication, while Spencer Whitman will serve as the Southern District Vice President. One of the responsibilities of the district vice president is organizing the Southern District Leadership Conference, which is coming up in June. Whitman said there’s a possibility that conference could be hosted at the Douglas campus.
“It’s exciting to see our chapter moving forward, coming out of this period of just kind of existing,” Whitman said. “We’re not just a small college in Southern Arizona that doesn’t do much. We have people capable of being involved, and it’s exciting to see that we’re able to stick with the friendly competition against colleges much larger than we are. It’s shaping up to be an amazing year.”
Whitman and Garcia had to apply in advance for the positions they were seeking and go through an interview process on Saturday afternoon, the second day of Regional Convention. By late evening, election results had been tallied.
“My intentions are to contribute to Phi Theta Kappa as a whole, not just on a chapter level, but on a state level,” said Garcia, who has returned to Cochise College after graduating with an associate of science degree in electronics technology in 1990 to now pursue a degree in biology. “The experience I bring will benefit the region.”
Westrick was honored with an adviser award in being named to the Arizona Region Hall of Honor. The Douglas Campus PTK members were also Honors in Action Issue Award winners. Each year, PTK chapters choose an project issue to pursue, and awards are given out by category. The Alpha Beta Zeta chapter won in the Issue 3 category, awarded for a project dealing with the individual and community, for the recycling program it started at the Douglas Campus. The recycling project also won an overall honorable mention among the region’s Honors in Action projects.
“We met with Andy Haratyk of the Bisbee recycling program and Ron Yuncevich, Douglas facilities maintenance manager, about starting a recycling project on the campus,” Westrick said. “We made arrangements with the Douglas Campus maintenance department to take our recyclables to the City of Bisbee. We collect recyclables from the library and the print shop.”
Douglas’ PTK members were honored with the Five Star Level development plan, a perfect score in the award that is based on the chapter’s completion of the five levels of organizational development. The Alpha Beta Zeta chapter also received honorable mention for its college project “Commit to Complete.”
The college’s Alpha Mu Zeta chapter, based at the Sierra Vista Campus, earned Four Star Level development plan status and was also an Honors in Action Issue Award winner in the Issue 8 category, The Arts. Alpha Mu Zeta members collected art supplies for the county’s elementary schools in December and January.
“Art instruction has been given short shrift at that level,” said Alpha Mu Zeta adviser Norman Bates. “We learned of this shortage by interviewing local teachers and administrations.”
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