South Georgia State College (SGSC) students Kara Clark of Douglas, Ga., and Carlos Hernandez of Buford, Ga., were named to the All-Georgia Academic Team, a program recognizing the scholarly achievements of students enrolled in two-year programs at Georgia’s colleges and universities.
Colleges may nominate students from their campuses to the All-USA Academic Team. Students from Georgia nominated to the national team make up the All-Georgia Academic Team. Nominations are based on outstanding academic performance and service to the college and community. The Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation is a valued partner of the All-Georgia Academic Team.
Kara Clark studied biology in her hometown of Douglas, Ga., at South Georgia State College. She was a member of the Kappa Sigma chapter of Phi Theta Kappa and the Academic Success Organization. She also played on the Lady Hawks softball team. She received the Edwin Davis Scholarship during her freshman year and the W.P. Richey Scholarship her sophomore year. She was given the Most Athletic Student Award and the Junior Academic Achievement Award at a recent SGSC honor’s night. After graduating from South Georgia State, she will be attending South University for pharmacy school.
Carlos Hernandez was born and raised in Maracay, Venezuela and now lives in Buford, Ga. He studied health and human performance at South Georgia State College, was a member of SGSC’s PTK Kappa Sigma chapter and played for the Hawks baseball team. He earned a spot as honorable mention in the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA) tournament team this year. He plans to attend Anderson University to further his baseball career and study kinesiology in order to become an athletic trainer. He has a goal of creating a baseball catcher’s academy in the future to help young players develop their catching skills.
“Both Kara and Carlos are true examples of scholar-athletes. They put in the time on the field to be better players for themselves and their teams,” said Phi Theta Kappa advisor Amy Hancock. “They are also dedicated to their coursework and maintain grades that show they are committed to academic excellence. By being named to the All-Georgia Team, they also were given the Phi Theta Kappa Award at SGSC’s Honors Night. I’m very proud of their accomplishments, both on and off the field. They will each have successful careers ahead of them in the future.”
Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society is the largest honor society in American higher education with more than 1,300 chapters on two-year and community college campuses in all 50 of the United States, Canada, Germany, Peru, the Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the British Virgin Islands, the United Arab Emirates and U.S. territorial possessions. More than 2.5 million students have been inducted since its founding in 1918, with approximately 135,000 students inducted annually.