National Park College’s (NPC) Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Honor Society chapter, Alpha Beta Psi, has been awarded an Honors in Action grant of $1000 from PTK. Each year, PTK chapters engage in Honors in Action projects combining academic research, problem-solving, and action-oriented service to address real-world community challenges.
This year, Alpha Beta Psi’s project focused on the challenges and successes of first-generation college students. For the action component of the project, the group used their grant money to purchase nine TI-84 Plus calculators for TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) to loan to the students they serve. They donated the remaining funds to the Helping Hawks Food Pantry, which uses monetary donations to purchase frozen protein.
Vice President of Services for Alpha Beta Psi, Christian Cisneros said, “It feels amazing to be able to make these contributions. As someone who is in the TRIO program, it was a big help with the donation of the calculators because I needed one for my class this semester and there was not a lot to loan out before this donation."
Robyn Hendrix, Program Coordinator with TRIO Student SSS said, “The calculators donated by PTK were essential in allowing us to continue our very popular loan program to TRIO students. Many of our students only need an advanced calculator for one semester of their entire college program.”
“These short-time loans help reduce school costs in a small way for each individual, but have multiplied cost savings when you consider the number of students served by one single calculator over the course of several semesters. We are so very grateful to PTK for their generous donation,” Hendrix said.
Pictured left to right: Cristian Cisneros (VP of Service), Rose Whitley (former VP of Communication and Records), Dr. Alex Barnard (faculty co-advisor), and Robyn Hendrix (TRIO Program Coordinator).