Representatives from Ozarks Technical Community College’s chapter of Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society for two-year college students, have returned from the organization’s 98th annual international convention with seven awards in hand. Held this year in Washington, D.C., the annual convention draws delegates from approximately 1,300 Phi Theta Kappa chapters each year.
As a whole, OTC’s Phi Theta Kappa chapter received awards for its Distinguished Honors in Action Theme and Distinguished Honors in Action Project. The chapter also accepted its eighth consecutive Beta Alpha Continued Excellence award, which is presented to chapters that place in the top 25 for three or more years.
OTC’s Thomas Romainville accepts Distinguished Chapter Member award.
The honors for OTC’s Phi Theta Kappa chapter also included an individual student award for Thomas Romainville, an exchange student from Hannut, Belgium, who was recognized as a Distinguished Chapter Member. Additionally, OTC Phi Theta Kappa advisors Jo Fritts, Steve Fritts and Donna Graham were recognized as a Distinguished Advisor Team.
Steve Fritts was also awarded the Marshall Award for Leadership Development. This competitive award includes a $5,000 stipend to pursue a self-designed project to cultivate leadership skills. Fritts will study improv at The Second City in Chicago and consult with its corporate training arm, Second City Works, to develop an improv-based leadership curriculum that will be used at the secondary and post-secondary level to teach practical leadership skills.
Phi Theta Kappa honors students who have a grade point average of 3.5 or higher, and places its emphasis on leadership, service, scholarship and fellowship. OTC’s Phi Theta Kappa chapter has more than 400 members system-wide and inducts new members twice each year.