Fall 2010 Issue - Calhoun Community College

From the President
Greetings, Sigma Kappa Delta Sponsors,
In just fifteen short years, Sigma
Kappa Delta has grown to 96 chapters
and initiated thousands of students. A
big part of that growth is due to the
Joan Reeves,
National President
excellent job you have done recruiting
Epsilon Alpha
new members and offering the advanChapter
tage of ΣΚ∆ membership to your students. Each year, we are ever mindful of all we have
achieved but realize there is much more ahead for ΣΚ∆.
Indeed, great opportunities await us as we plan a new
year focused on all the rewards of ΣΚ∆ membership. ΣΚ∆
literally offers something for everyone. If your members
are interested in publishing, encourage them to submit
their essays, poems, short stories, and photography for
inclusion in the national literary magazine, Hedera helix.
If your members are interested in scholarship opportunities, encourage them to apply for ΣΚ∆ scholarships. The
Dr. Don Perkins Service Scholarship and the Dr. Susan
LeJeune Service Scholarship are $500 each; the Dr.
William C. Johnson Sigma Tau Delta Transfer Scholarship
of $500 is awarded to a ΣΚ∆ member majoring in English.
Additional Academic/Service Scholarships are $400 each.
If your members are interested in travel, encourage them to
begin raising money now to attend the annual national
Sigma Tau Delta/Sigma Kappa Delta conference in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, March 23-26, 2011. If your
members are competitive, encourage them to enter their
college’s literary magazine in the ΣΚ∆ literary magazine
competition or apply for the ΣΚ∆ Chapter Activity Award.
Numerous opportunities are available through ΣΚ∆ membership, so make this year your year to get more involved
at the national level.
Mark your calendars and start fundraisers early in the
fall semester if you plan to attend the national convention.
This is an event that ensures your members the opportuni-
Fall 2010
ty to experience the scholarship, camaraderie, and recognition offered by ΣΚ∆ membership. As your president, I
look forward to working with you during the next year and
hope to see you and your members in Pittsburgh in March.
If I can be of any assistance, do not hesitate to call on me.
Best Wishes,
Joan Reeves
National President, Sigma Kappa Delta
Topsy Turvy
Although my life was
topsy turvy during the spring
semester, Dr. Byrd and our
work-study student carried
the extra work load during
my absence from the national office. When I returned, I
was happy to find that chapter sponsors’ needs had been met and membership
continued to grow. Thank you all for carrying on in
my absence.
This year’s e-news will be mailed twice a
month. If you have special chapter activities and/or
pictures to share with us, please email them to me. I
am always happy to include such information, and
other chapters get great ideas from what you are
doing.
I expect to be in the office as usual this fall. Feel
free to contact me any time at [email protected] or
at 256-309-2524.
Jan Anderson
ΣΚ∆ Director of Development & Publications
Dedicated
Sponsors
2009-10 Ivy Chapters
Ivy chapters are recognized for fulfilling requirements to remain in good standing with the national organization for the year, including completing and returning year-end reports and making a contribution to the national George
Washington Harris Project. We congratulate the following chapters for outstanding performance during the 2009-2010 school year.
Chi Gamma Chapter
Beta Gamma Chapter
Collin College
Sponsors: Dr. Lauryn Angel-Cann and
Stacey Donald
York Technical College
Sponsors: Martin Grant, Martha
MacDonald, and Cindy Mayfield
Northeast Alabama Community College
Sponsors: Joan Reeves and Joan Tucker
Darton College
Sponsors: Elizabeth Gassel and
Shane Wilson
Epsilon Alpha Chapter
Omicron Gamma Chapter
North Lake College
Sponsors: Dr. Phyllis Elmore and
Professor Tracie Hernandez
Psi Gamma Chapter
Tyler Junior College
Sponsor: Dr. Linda Gary
Delta Alpha Chapter
Copiah-Lincoln Community College
Sponsors: Pam Reid and Glenda Silverii
Theta Delta Chapter
Wallace State Community College,
Hanceville
Sponsors: Beth Johnson, Mona Hopper,
and Michael Salerno
Pi Delta Chapter
Nu Delta Chapter
Tarrant County College, South Campus
Sponsors: Lindsey Davis, Iris Johnson,
and Rebekah Clinkscale
Alpha Chapter
Cottey College
Sponsors: Dr. Don Perkins and
Dr. Trisha Stubblefield
Theta Beta Chapter
Calhoun Community College
Sponsors: Jill Chadwick and
Leigh Ann Rhea
Mu Alpha Chapter
Illinois Valley Community College
Sponsors: Kimberly Radek and
Delores Robinson
Congratulations to the following sponsors for achieving continuous service
to Sigma Kappa Delta as chapter sponsors for the time indicated. We appreciate the hard work our sponsors do.
TEN YEARS
Felisa Williams
Nu Alpha Chapter
Bladen Community College
Charlotte Speer
Phi Alpha Chapter
Bevill State Community College
Dr. Jack Williams
Beta Beta Chapter
Spartanburg Methodist College
FIVE YEARS
Pam Reid
Delta Alpha Chapter
Copiah-Lincoln Community College
Glenda Silverii
Delta Alpha Chapter
Copiah-Lincoln Community College
Twyla Davis
Nu Alpha Chapter
Bladen Community College
Claudia Philpott
Psi Alpha Chapter
Odessa College
H. F. Poehlmann
Iota Beta Chapter
Blinn College at Brenham
John Emery
Psi Beta Chapter
Eastfield College
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Sigma Kappa Delta News
Sigma Kappa Delta
2009-2010
Scholarship/Award Winners
presented at the Sigma Tau Delta/Sigma Kappa Delta
National Convention, St. Louis, Missouri
March 19, 2010
Photography
1st Place:
Serenity
Alisha McFadzen,
NorthWest Arkansas
Community College
Writing Contest
Short Fiction: The Inventor’s Garden - Kirsten Bloss,
Collin County Community College
Essay: My Daddy’s Hands - Brenda S. Beaver,
Darton College
Poem: Tunnel of Jazz - Angela Jordan,
Northeast Alabama Community College
Literary Analysis: Exploitation of Innocence Cindy Maggiulli, Amarillo College
Scholarships
Dr. William Johnson Transfer Scholarship: Kayla
Cordell, Northeast Alabama Community College
2nd Place:
No Bites
Angela Jordan,
Northeast Alabama
Community College
Dr. Don Perkins Service Scholarship: Kayla Cordell,
Northeast Alabama Community College
Dr. Susan LeJeune Service Scholarship: Devin Michael
Kennamer, Northeast Alabama Community College
Service Award Scholarships
Daniella Saracutu - Calhoun Community College
3rd Place:
Summer Zinnia
Melissa Gilmore,
University of
Wisconsin-Fox Valley
Angela Jordan - Northeast Alabama Community College
Martha LaShay Spurgin Northeast Alabama Community College
Literary Magazine/Journal Award: Aurora: Voices and
Visions – Northeast Alabama Community College
Chapter Activity Award: Epsilon Alpha - Northeast
Alabama Community College, Joan Reeves, sponsor
Fall 2010
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Outstanding Sigma Kappa Delta Members
Nu Delta Chapter
Tarrant County College, South Campus
Tau Delta Chapter
Lakeland Community College
Celebration of Excellence Leadership Recognition
Poetry Winner, Spring Literary Festival
Jeremy Jordan
Theta Delta Chapter
Wallace State Community College, Hanceville
Krysti Shallenberger
Haley Anderson
Jessica Graves
Kelsey Dennis
Kristen Skinner
Katelyn Tribble
Stephanie Needham
Who’s Who
Scott Edwards
FYGI Scholarship
Kelsey Dennis
Athletic Scholarship to Texas Tech University
Kristen Skinner
Athletic Scholarship to University of West Alabama
Tallie Gribbs
Most Outstanding English Student
Katelyn Tribble
Juan La Rosa
Second Place Poetry, Spring Literary Festival
Editor-in-Chief of Literary Journal Blue Monday
Shakeela Blair
Winner Short Fiction, Spring Literary Festival
Lisa Leung-Tat
Essay Winner, Spring Literary Festival
North Bureau Chief for Campus Newsletter
Melissa McHugh
Convention Paper McHugh Avenue accepted by Sigma Tau Delta
Pi Beta Chapter
Wallace Community College, Dothan
Ashton Varner
Charles E. Coggins Leadership Scholarship
Kelsey Goins
2010 Chancellor’s Scholarship to Auburn University at Montgomery
Joterian Johnson
Jack Kent Cook Scholarship
President’s Cup
Outstanding Volunteer Award
Athletic Scholarship to University of Alabama, Huntsville
Outstanding English Students of the Year
Courtney Carter
All-Alabama Academic Team
All USA Team Nominee
Coca-Cola Silver Scholarship
Scholarship to Troy University-Dothan
Victory Flag Award
Stephanie Needham
Delta Alpha Chapter
Copiah-Lincoln Community College
Humanities Department Outstanding Student Award
Microcosm Poetry Winner
Suzanne Gainous
Maranne Gainous
Miranda Villamar
Omicron Gamma Chapter
North Lake College
Omicron Delta Chapter
Three Rivers Community College
President’s Scholarship to Austin College, Sherman, TX
Music Scholarship
Terry Bates
Chelsea Duncan
Keeping the Promise Award
Epsilon Alpha Chapter
Northeast Alabama Community College
Shay Spurgin
Devin Kennamer
Joshua Lamb
Tammy Shephard
TRCC Academic Award in Teaching
Michelle Wyatt
All-Missouri Academic Team
Two Phi Theta Kappa Transfer Scholarships
All-Academic Team
Kappa Alpha Chapter
Bainbridge College
President’s Cup Winner
Leadership & Service Award
Devin Kennamer
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Ronald Bray
Rayna Andrews
Sigma Kappa Delta News
Member Attendance and Involvement
Many sponsors have questions about how to increase attendance at meetings and
involvement in activities. We offer the following suggestions to boost chapters
in these two areas:
•
•
Be visible on campus. Display the ΣΚ∆ banner at all appropriate campus
functions and stand or sit together as a group.
Make meetings casual and fun. Here are some ideas from other chapters:
- Play games like Book Lover’s Trivial Pursuit or Scrabble
- Hold a Fairy Tale Masquerade
- Assist with local spelling bees or hold one on your campus
- Keep chapter scrapbook – Take pictures!
- Hold Movie Night – For example, one chapter watched Casino Royale
and held a discussion of the hero’s journey and James Bond. Be creative
- Do service projects occasionally. Prepare holiday goodies for the elderly or the young and deliver them
- Create a chapter website and blog or Facebook page
- Partner with another campus organization for a project/event
- Invite local authors to speak at meetings and invite non-members – be
the host
- National Convention Common Read
- Faculty vs. Student Kickball Event
- Compose a school literary journal
- Interact with Big Brothers/Big Sisters or Junior Achievement to encourage education among youth
- Establish local awards
- Three Cups of Tea Project - http://www.threecupsoftea.com/
- Celebrate special literary days through the year. A few are
H Banned Book Week – Sept. 25- Oct. 2, 2010
H International Literacy Day – September 8, 2010
H National Grammar Day – March 4, 2010
H National Poetry Month – April
H Read Across America Day – Check Website for Date
H Open mic event to read favorite excerpts from Edgar Allan Poe –
October suggested
H http://classiclit.about.com/od/celebratebooks/
-
-
FOOD! Serve snacks at meetings. Members may bring snacks to share,
or the chapter may purchase inexpensive snacks and drinks.
Occasionally, have door prizes.
Build anticipation before meetings by posting the meeting date and any special
activity planned. Whether you have five, ten, or twenty in attendance, make
meetings fun and special. Those few will leave and spread the word, encouraging other members to attend next time. ΣΚ∆ meetings should be fun as well as
enlightening; they should also provide a social atmosphere while allowing members to interact on an intellectual level.
Remember: praise and recognition are the greatest motivators.
Fall 2010
Housekeeping
Information
Sequence for
Induction
Students are not legitimate Sigma
Kappa Delta members until they
are on the national roster.
Inductees should have been
processed through the national
organization and should receive
official membership certificates
and pins at the time of induction.
The national office cannot verify
membership for job applications,
resumes, etc. unless the student’s
name is on the national roster.
Be sure to send the completed
membership request form in plenty of time for national to process it
and mail your items. Violating this
process can cause problems for
individual chapters as well as for
the national office.
Educate Your
Business Office
The college business office can be
your best friend or your worst
nightmare. Be sure the person in
charge of sending checks to the
national ΣΚ∆ office has the information he/she needs. If your
chapter dues are $50 per member,
be sure your business office realizes that only $30 per member is
sent for national dues; the remaining $20 is kept in the local fund
for chapter use. We want to avoid
anyone sending the entire $50 per
member; it causes problems and
more paper work on both ends.
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Member
Recruitment
Psi Gamma Chapter at Tyler
Junior College has taken national advice and started a recruitment program that works beautifully and is much less work for
sponsors. We copy from Psi
Gamma’s year-end report:
George Washington
Harris Monument
Sigma Kappa Delta made a significant contribution to literary history by locating the
long lost grave of southwestern humorist
George Washington Harris and erecting a
beautiful monument at his unmarked
grave. Details and photos of that ceremony are on our website (www.english2.org) under “News.”
Thank you to the chapters who committed to making a contribution to this
project for three years. That commitment
is complete as of this year. Sigma Kappa
Delta is proud of this accomplishment.
A program has been written by
the TJC technology department
that scans student records and
identifies those students who
qualify for membership in Sigma
Kappa Delta. A letter and membership form are then sent electronically to those students via
campus mail. Students who are
interested in joining Psi Gamma
–Tyler Chapter complete the
form and turn it and their dues
in to the advisor.
Some college registrars already
have computer programs that
will perform this task. This
method ensures that all qualified
students are invited to membership and makes recruitment
much easier for sponsors. We
hope you will use this method if
possible and increase your chapter membership this year.
Not all students who join will
participate, but the chapter will
benefit from having those names
on the roll and from use of their
local dues.
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http://www.bookslut.com/blog/
http://www.bookdwarf.com
http://www.litkicks.com/
Sigma Kappa Delta News
Shoes for Orphans
Omicron Gamma Chapter, North Lake College
Last November, Omicron Gamma Chapter of Sigma Kappa
Delta completed its shoe drive in support of the children of the
Wellington Orphanage at Sierra Leone, West Africa. This
orphanage is home to some 90 children whose parents and
family have been slain in West African civil wars.
Omicron Gamma sponsor Dr. Phyllis Elmore met Dr. Bob
Seeley last summer when he described his missionary work at
the orphanage. He and other church members teach the arts,
composition, and life skills there. Dr. Seeley told Dr. Elmore
that the children largely go barefoot because they are almost
totally dependent on the generosity of others for their basic
needs.
When Dr. Elmore shared this story with her chapter members,
they wanted to adopt the orphanage as its 2009-2010 service project. Members of Omicron Gamma collected approximately 94 pair of shoes to ship to Wellington Orphanage.
In his note of thanks, Chris Shabay, Revive Africa founder, stated
“On behalf of the children of Wellington Orphanage, please accept my appreciation for the dozens
of flip-flops, crocs, and tennis shoes you donated. The (especially) rainy season has just ended, and many
shoes are ruined at this time of year…the kids will have a great time picking new ones from the many you
sent.”
What a worthy project!
“Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.”
— Thoreau
Fall 2010
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2011 International Convention
Join the fun in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
March 23 - 26, 2011
Hilton Pittsburgh
600 Commonwealth Place, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States 15222
Tel: 1-412-391-4600
2011 Theme: Beyond Words
“The 2011 Pittsburgh theme encourages us all to consider the power of the written word,
its ability to contain so much and to do so much, and to consider how writers, every day, go
beyond words, providing pleasure, but also instructing and serving, giving voice to people
and causes and ideas.”
— Dr. Sarah Dangelantonio, 2011 Convention Chair
2011 Common Reader: Black Ice
You will receive details of the convention via ΣΚ∆ e-news as plans develop. All registrations are made through the Sigma Tau Delta website (www.english.org). Register
early to ensure the best rooms and rates.
Sponsors and members who attend convention always go home with renewed enthusiasm and great ideas. Start planning your trip to Pittsburgh now by holding fundraisers
and checking with various campus offices/agencies to find available funds for the trip.
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Sigma Kappa Delta News