Omega Omicron advisors and Chapter members and officers following the PTK Tennessee Regional Conference Awards Ceremony. (Pictured from left to right:) Holly Shiveley (advisor), Andrew Bebawy, Paula Haslam (Lipscomb Transfer Trustee Scholar), Abhi Mistry, (Tennessee region vice-president) , Mikaela Broiling (Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholar), Seth Bush (Distinguished Chapter member), Emily Phillips (Lipscomb Trustee Transfer Scholar), Chandler Bear (Tennessee Regional Mascot), Tony Hernandez, Peyton Stewart, Brianna Riley (Distinguished Chapter officer), Hunter Torbett, Joseph Owens, Karen McCall Dale (Distinguished Paragon advisor).
Members of Cleveland State Community College’s Omega Omicron Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society have a reason to smile after bringing home a plethora of awards from two conferences. PTK members and advisors from different chapters competed for recognition in the Society’s Hallmarks of Scholarship, Leadership, Service and Fellowship at the Phi Theta Kappa International Catalyst Conference and the Tennessee Regional Conference, both held at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville. Phi Theta Kappa is in the international honor society of the two-year college and the largest honor society in the world, according to officials.
While attending the Regional conference, the chapter received the following awards:
- Distinguished Chapter, first place;
- Distinguished College Project, first place;
- Distinguished Honors in Action Project, second place;
- Distinguished Chapter Officer Hallmark Award, first place to Brianna Riley; and
- Distinguished Chapter Member Hallmark Award, third place to Seth Bush.
In addition to these student awards, PTK Advisor Karen Dale received the Paragon Faculty Hallmark Award. Ms. Dale is the only faculty scholar from Tennessee, and one of only 30 internationally, and will lead seminars this summer at this year’s Honors Institute, which will be held next month on the campus of Loyola University in Chicago.
“I can’t say enough about Karen,” stated fellow PTK Advisor Holly Shiveley. “She has jumped full force into this, pushing the students and challenging them to do their best. She encourages them to set high standards and high goals, and I do think that a lot of the chapter’s success comes from her. The fact that she was a faculty scholar, she was able to gain a lot of knowledge about the topics and was able to share some valuable background and leadership information with them.”
While attending the PTK International Catalyst Conference, the Omega Omicron Chapter took home the following awards:
- Distinguished Chapter Officer, Brianna Riley;
- Coca-Cola Leader of Promise, Mikaela Broling;
- Distinguished Chapter Award;
- Distinguished College Project Award; and
- Top 100 Chapter Internationally.
For its commitment to chapter development, the Omega Omicron Chapter was recognized as being a Five Star Level chapter, the highest development distinction that can be earned.
In addition to the regional and international recognitions, CSCC had two students serve as flag bearers in the opening General Session, Andrew Bebawy and Hunter Torbett; two students received full-tuition scholarships from Lipscomb University, Paula Haslam and Emily Phillips; and a group of five members who sang the Phi Theta Kappa song at the close of the Hallmark Awards Gala for approximately 4,000 attendees, Emily Phillips, Tony Hernandez, Hunter Torbett, Seth Bush and Brianna Riley.
Ms. Shiveley said, “Awards are nice, and it was awesome to go across that stage, but in reality it’s what you learn through the experience, as well. Not just the material itself, but also the relationships they have built with each other and the connections they have made. We had already determined that even if they didn’t win any awards, we considered it a success because of how everything came together and what they learned from the experience which is the important part.”
“I have really enjoyed my involvement with PTK,” stated Ms. Phillips. “I have been able to hear speakers through this organization that I would not normally have had the opportunity to meet in any other situation.”
Dr. Jennifer Arnold, the star of the television show “The Little Couple,” was the opening speaker at this year’s conference.
In addition, Abhi Mistry was elected as the new regional vice president for the Tennessee region. The Omega Omicron Chapter was also awarded possession of the Regional Mascot, Chandler Bear, for the 2016-2017 year based upon their competitive cheer/song at the Regional Honors in Action Conference in July of 2016.