Skyline College’s Beta Theta Omicron chapter of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society returned from PTK Catalyst in Baltimore, Maryland (March 26–28) with an outstanding five international awards.
Skyline College has been called on stage repeatedly since the chapter earned a Distinguished College Project award and a Distinguished Honors in Action Project award, recognizing both of the major initiatives the team undertook this academic year. Their Honors in Action research also received the Distinguished Theme Award for Theme 6: Stories of Persistence, Resilience, Healing, and Sorrow, meaning the chapter’s work placed in the top three nationally in that theme and is expected to be published through PTK, a rare and meaningful distinction. Rounding out the honors, Beta Theta Omicron received the Beta Alpha Continued Excellence Award and was named Seventh Finalist for Most Distinguished Chapter in the nation.
Catalyst also brought an exciting personal milestone for chapter member Knox Lwin, who competed as a finalist for the Division IV International Officer seat. Although Knox did not ultimately win the election, he gained invaluable experience on the national stage, and the journey brought the team closer together and forged new friendships that will last well beyond the convention. A special thank you goes to Dr. Pia Walawalkar and Clair Yeo-Sugajski for their support in preparing Knox for this journey.
None of this work would have been possible without tremendous support from across the Skyline College campus. The chapter’s Honors in Action project benefited from the guidance and partnership of Dr. Pia Walawalkar, Portia Luong, the Puente team, and the STEM Center team. The College Project drew on the support of ASSC, Joe Morello, Cherie Colin and the Skyline College MCPR team, the Skyline EMT program led by Ilyan Baalbaki, SMCCD Emergency Preparedness Manager Ben’Zara Minkin, and Emergency Management Coordinator Vince Garcia. The chapter extends a special thank you to STEM Division Dean Jessica Hurless and Nadia Tariq for their tremendous and ongoing support.
Congratulations to the 25-26 Beta Theta Omicron officer team, Chapter President Genevieve Caamal, Noel Aung, Pakiza Bano, Evan Horne, Brianna Khuu, Jennifer Lau, Knox Lwin, Jiaxuan Qiao, Deniz Scarpace, and Qian Zhao, and to every campus partner who helped make this year’s achievements possible.
