South Georgia State College (SGSC) recently hosted the annual Fall Regional Conference for the Georgia Region of the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society. Official hosts were the Alpha Rho Omega Chapter (SGSC’s Waycross Campus) and the Kappa Sigma Chapter (SGSC’s Douglas Campus). Chapter advisors are Amy Hancock and Ame Wilkerson.
The two-day event was held in the Clubhouse at Wild Adventures Theme Park in Valdosta. Chapters from across the State of Georgia were in attendance as well as Ms. Phylliss Duval, representative of Phi Theta Kappa Center of Excellence in Jackson, MS. The conference began with a welcome and opening remarks from Frank Malinowski, regional coordinator for the Georgia Region. Icebreaker activities were led by the Georgia region officer team. The guest speaker for the evening was Phylliss Duval. She spoke to the chapter members about taking on a leadership role at their colleges and in their own chapters. She encouraged the advisors and members to take part in the 5 star chapter development plan and be an organization on campus that is noticed for its hard work and leadership.
Small group sessions were held and led by the regional officer team who spoke on the basics of Phi Theta Kappa and best practices when applying for scholarships. The evening concluded with fellowship time in the theme park.
As students and advisors gathered for the second day of the conference, Malinowski gave the annual State of the Region report and the International Headquarters Update, which was followed by the traditional Roll Call of Chapters.
In keeping with the theme of leadership, the next two speakers gave insight on using leadership skills in event planning and showing leadership through service and volunteerism. Wild Adventures representative Laura Graham shared how events were planned and conducted at the theme park and went through their steps to a successful event.
Students are able to take her information and use it when planning Phi Theta Kappa events on their own campuses. Hannah Peverill from Second Harvest Food Bank in Valdosta talked with the students about service opportunities and volunteerism. She gave them ideas on doing projects at their colleges that would not only help others but would also strengthen their own leadership skills.
As a special treat, K.D. Cooper from Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, dropped by to talk to the group. Last year while he was deployed, the attendees to the spring regional conference brought items and packed care packages to send to him and those in his group from Hunter. He was able to share with them how much a service project can mean to those on the receiving end of their kindness. The students talked about how great it was to actually see what they had done made a difference to others. After the conference adjourned, the chapter members and advisors enjoyed the rest of the day in the theme park.
Headquartered in Jackson, Miss., Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society is the largest honor society in higher education with 1,285 chapters on college campuses in each of the United States, Canada, Germany, the Republic of Palau, Peru, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the British Virgin Islands, the United Arab Emirates and U.S. territorial possessions. Nearly three million students have been inducted since Phi Theta Kappa’s founding in 1918, with approximately 131,000 students inducted annually.
– Submitted