PHOTO-Pictured seated left to right is Director of Honors in Action Project, Rebecca Speights-Silver Creek; VP of Leadership, Abby Parker of Laurel; VP of Scholarship, Acacia Rodriguez-Clinton; VP of Service, Emma Shows-Soso and Secretary, Macy Malone-Laurel. Pictured standing left to right is College Project Director, Ivana Bishop-Waynesboro; VP of Fellowship, Will Hendry-Bay Springs; Historian, Brady Collins-Heidelberg; Southern District Representative and VP of Membership, Wyatt Reid-Laurel and President, Mya McLain-Waynesboro.
ELLISVILLE – After going virtual for the first time over the last couple of years, Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society’s conference for two-year colleges held its first in-person conference this spring in Colorado with four Jones College representatives participating. Southern District Regional Officer and VP of Membership-Wyatt Reid of Laurel, College Project Director-Ivana Bishop of Waynesboro, VP of Scholarship-Acacia Rodriguez of Clinton, and VP of Fellowship-Will Hendry of Bay Springs, returned to Mississippi with chapter rewards for their collective efforts.
At the International “Catalyst” conference, Jones College’s Rho Sigma Chapter earned the Top 50 Distinguished College Project award. Also, the group earned the Top 39 Distinguished Chapter honors based on the College Project and Honors in Action rankings/scores combined.
“To put this in perspective, being a Top 39 Distinguished Chapter in PTK’s international membership is phenomenal! There are more than 1200 chapters across all the PTK membership,” explained PTK Advisor and JC Assistant Dean of the College of Science, Eric Shows.
At the Regional Conference, the College Project which established the first PTK Alumni Chapter at JC earned third place honors overall. The Honors-in-Action project, focusing on documenting Laurel’s history from an industrial perspective placed 6th overall and 1st place in the theme category. The chapter also earned Top 3 Distinguished Chapter in the Region. Reid was also elected 
to hold a regional officer position as the Southern Mississippi District Representative.
“It is uplifting to know that despite the limitations of Covid-19 over the last couple of years, we’re still doing well as a chapter,” said Shows. “All of our work is rewarding but these honors validate not only our work but also our success in selecting projects that have resonated with the PTK leadership.”
Honors in Action Director, Rebecca Speights of Silver Creek, explained the group is very proud of the work they did documenting how the timber industry in Laurel shaped the city and how it impacted the world. Jones County was also a railroad hub with city leaders deciding to build the city around the railways played a major part in the success of the timber industry.
“We recorded information provided mostly by the Executive Director of the Laurel Museum of Art Director, George Bassi, explaining how the industrial revolution affected Jones County and its impact globally. He was an invaluable resource to the success of the project video which can be found on the Jones College Phi Theta Kappa Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/JCJC.Phi.Theta.Kappa,” said Speights.
The Jones College students admitted their only regret was not having more time to interview the founding families and share more of Laurel’s story.
Individually, Mya McLain of Waynesboro was selected to Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society’s All-Mississippi Academic Team and Shayna Clark of Petal was chosen for the All-Mississippi Academic Second Team. These JC students competed with more than 1,800 nominations from each of the 15-community colleges. As part of the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society’s annual academic and workforce competition, each student submitted an essay, answered discussion questions, and described their leadership roles and activities while in college.
The highest-scoring nominees from each of the 15 two-year colleges earned First Team All-Mississippi honors and $500 scholarships provided by the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges. All team members received special medallions, certificates, and printed resolutions from the Mississippi Legislature.