Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society Earns High Honors

The Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society at Essex County College has earned the highest designation from PTK International for the fourth consecutive year.

The designation of “Five Star Chapter” came for ECC’s Alpha Theta Theta Chapter from Phi Theta Kappa International during the PTK Middle States Convention hosted by Atlantic Cape Community College the weekend of March 7-8. The college picked up another six awards during the convention. The Middle States region encompasses two-year colleges in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland and the District of Columbia.

“Every chapter wants to be a Five Star,” said Biology Instructor Lynn Wilson, co-advisor of the chapter. “We were confident going in and everything fell into place.”

“This is wonderful news and a real tribute to the mentorship of the faculty and staff at ECC,” said Essex President Gale E. Gibson. The other co-advisors are English Instructor Sean O’Connell and Biology Professor Jeffrey Lee.

Other awards picked up by Essex included: Distinguished Chapter Award; Distinguished Officer Team Awards; two Distinguished Officer Awards; President Luis Rivera-Correa  (engineering major from East Orange) and Treasurer Ton Duong (mechanical engineering major from Belleville); Distinguished Member Award: Bryan Velasco (liberal arts major from Newark), and the Spirit Award.

“The Five Star Chapter” Development Plan serves as a blueprint for developing a strong chapter, improves student engagement on campus and recognizes progress in attaining goals set by the chapter. Among the projects which helped the chapter garner top honors were the creation of an urban garden in Biology Room 3422 and the presentation of an Honors in Action workshop on oil resources.

Luis said the Spirit Award was the one the chapter planned out the most. With Ton doing the choreography and Catarina Ribiero (architectural technology major from Newark) the lead singer, he said the group “had a blast” performing their song. 

Other members of the chapter who attended the convention were Diego Gonzalez (liberal arts major from Summit); Denisse Mendoza (engineering major from Woodland Park), and Raymond Spencer (new media technology major from East Orange.)

The chapter will attend the Phi Theta Kappa International Convention from April 24 to 26 in Orlando, Fla.