Tyneisha Lewis
“It is only in our darkest hours that we may discover the true strength of the brilliant light within ourselves that can never, ever, be dimmed.” – Doe Zantamata
As the weather grows chilly and the Autumn season begins, there is a new routine of Zoom meetings, online classes, virtual events and social distancing.
Despite COVID-19, the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society still continues to move on and work to bring events to new and current members and chapters.
One of these events is the Phi Theta Kappa Middle States Fall Leadership Conference.
The regional conference was virtual this year with the theme, "The Lemonade Stand - Adding Some Sugar and Stirring up the Good Stuff."
The conference described the theme further stating, "Even though COVID-19 may have kept us apart, the Community College of Baltimore County Chapters of Phi Theta Kappa and the Middle States Region are finding ways to take something sour and make it sweet."
The conference was held via Zoom, on Saturday, October 17 from 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. The event was hosted by the Community College of Baltimore County chapters of Phi Theta Kappa: Chi Theta, Alpha Rho Psi, and Beta Alpha Tau.The other States involved in the conference were: NJ, PA, MD, DE, and Washington DC.
Attendees were inspired by PTK and the 'The Lemonade Stand' theme. They wore PTK apparel and had lemons & lemonade themed Zoom backdrops.
The conference held talks about PTK programs, events, and scholarships. It also had a variety of activities and speakers. The activities had themes such as environmental benefits, stress management, mental health, self-care and more.
The talks and activities were engaging and full of tips and suggestions for things like time management.
"I'm really happy with the turnout for our Fall Leadership Conference, said Middle States Region President of the Omicron Theta Chapter, Bri Barone. "I'm always super happy to spend time with my fellow Kappans so having the opportunity to share time management strategies is an amazing one! I love time management and it's something I feel everyone needs more of, including me, so I'm really glad I got to have this conversation with my PTK family today."
With the effects of The Coronavirus, the conference was a welcomed break for all in attendance. It was the result of planning and hard work from those involved.
"I am very proud of the leadership, teamwork, and excellent programming that was presented by the 3 Phi Theta Kappa Chapters at CCBC fulfilling their duties as hosts of the Middle States Regional Fall Leadership Conference, said PTK Regional Coordinator, Pattie Van Atter. “Their determination and grit to provide an engaging, informative program in a virtual format is to be commended. I am grateful to the members, advisors and Dr. Kurtinits for their support and dedication to the Middle States Region."
"The Lemonade Stand" conference was one to remember, encouraging others to take this year's “lemons” and turn them into “lemonade.”
As one of the attendees and speakers at the event I really enjoyed reading your article on the conference. Turning a lemon of a situation into lemonade really fit with the events going on this year and I think the conference itself gave those in PTK a social boost to keep going with their PTK duties and other academic course work. This was a great article and you captured the essence of the conference excellently. I look forward to reading more of your upcoming article on PTK and their events; maybe even on the Catonsville chapters Honors in Action and the college project.
Excellent article overall!
I’m glad that the students from the Honor Society still keep in touch with each other and create events that relieve stress for CCBC students. It’s a good thing, we all need something to relieve our stress, especially these days with the pandemic going on. Hopefully, this pandemic will end soon in the near future and we will all be able to see our fellow classmates again face to face without worrying about spreading the virus. In the meantime, let’s do our part to stop the virus infecting other people.
That’s really nice that even though they couldn’t come together physically they could still have a zoom event. It’s nice to see people come together especially during these hard times and hopefully they will be able to reconnect soon!