Out of 1,300 chapters in nine countries, Riverland Community College’s Phi Theta Kappa Zeta Eta chapter honors student organization has been named a Distinguished Chapter at the 2019 Phi Theta Kappa International Catalyst convention in Orlando, Florida, this past weekend.

This coveted award is the greatest honor a Phi Theta Kappa chapter can receive and recognizes chapters with the highest combined score of its Honors in Action and college project Hallmark Award submissions.

This year, Zeta Eta’s Honors in Action project focused on building empathy skills with IJ Holton Intermediate School students. The College Project focused on retention with peer mentoring between Phi Theta Kappa and Honors students and students who were struggling academically.  Zeta Eta was in the top five in the country for the College Project.

Riverland’s chapter is co-led by faculty advisors Suzette Overby and Heidi Schara and retired faculty member Sue Grove, who serves as a voluntary advisor emeritus.

In the last few weeks, Zeta Eta has captured the following awards at their regional and International conferences:

Minn-Kota Regional Convention winners

•Chapter Officer Team — First place out of 42 chapters

•College Project — First place out of 42 chapters

•Honors in Action Project — Second place out of 42 chapters

•Most Distinguished Chapter – — First lace out of 42 chapters

International Phi Theta Kappa Convention winners:

•Chapter Officer Team — One of 30 out of 1,300 chapters

•College Project — One of top five out of 1,300 chapters

•Honors in Action Project — Honorable mention

•Distinguished Chapter — One of top 40 out of 1,300 chapters

Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society for two-year colleges, symbolizes excellence in higher education and a commitment to students. Phi Theta Kappa’s mission is twofold: recognize and encourage the academic achievement of two-year college students and to provide opportunities for individual growth and development through participation in honors, leadership, service and fellowship programming.

Phi Theta Kappa has recognized and encouraged two-year college students for 80 years, providing stimulation and enrichment while promoting the academic integrity of the associate degree program. For these reasons, the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) has designated Phi Theta