The Journey
A newsletter for chapter advisors, chapter officers, and
regional officers.
February/
March 2001
Issue
PHI THETA
KAPPA REGIONS
Working Together: Programs Help Unify Regions
Indiana Region
Brings America’s Promise Home
The Indiana Region has applied the International Service Program,
America’s Promise very personally. Nathan, a young resident of Greenwood,
Indiana, has been chosen as the focus of the region’s 2000-01 Service
Project, “Nathan’s Battle.” Nathan has a fatal degenerative neurological
disorder called Late Infantile Batten Disease. The life expectancy for
children with this diagnosis is 10 years. Worldwide research efforts have
resulted in a viable genetic treatment that could be the cure. However,
the treatment still awaits the clinical trials required by the Food and
Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health. Phi Theta Kappa
chapters in the Indiana Region are raising money for the clinical trials
while raising awareness of the disease.
One chapter coordinated with a national department store chain to sell T-shirts and basketballs at the front of the store and all donations received were matched by the store. Indiana members have distributed 13,000 flyers and sold $900 in awareness T-shirts and ribbons. The Regional Alumni Association has joined in with a “spare change” campaign, and a “sensory” card was created and presented to Nathan, who has lost his sight, at the Indiana Regional Leadership Conference last fall. In addition, by coordinating with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey, Phi Theta Kappans were able to participate in raising more than $90,000 for the Nathan’s Battle Foundation.
Alaska Chapters
Benefit from Special Outreach from Regional Officer
Greater Northwest Regional Officer Marina Chauvaud recently proved
the “power of one.” Chauvaud traveled from Washington State to the University
of Alaska-Anchorage, where she met with representatives of four of Phi
Theta Kappa’s five Alaska chapters. Monetary constraints often hinder
Alaskan chapters’ participation with the Greater Northwest Region, and
the Region is making a concerted effort to help get the state’s members
more involved in the Society through regional activities. Chauvaud presented
attendees with a mini version of the Greater Northwest Region’s fall Leadership
Conference, discussing such Society initiatives as the current Honors
Study Topic, the America’s Promise International Service Program, the
Hallmark Awards Program and the Journey Challenge 2000. Parliamentary
procedure and fundraising were also discussed. Together, chapter members
developed strategies to enhance their leadership skills and communicate
their vision with their fellow chapter members.
Regions Continue
to Join Hands in “Common Bodies of Water” Project
Many regions are participating in the Common Bodies of Water project introduced
by the Virginia Region last summer. As part of Phi Theta Kappa’s
year-long study of the Honors Study Topic, “In the Midst of Water: Origin
and Destiny of Life,” the Virginia Region encouraged all regions to implement
Fellowship/Honors activities with regions with whom they share a common
body of water.
The Minn-Wi-Kota Region has scheduled a “Clean Up the Mississippi River” Project, encouraging chapters to participate in keeping their own section of the river cleared. The Iowa, Missouri, and Oklahoma/Arkansas Regions are also targeting each region’s section of the Mississippi River.
By using the ocean as a common body of water, the Virginia and Pacific Regions exchanged regional foods for their Leadership Conferences this past fall. Members of the Virginia Region had the opportunity to taste island delights such as poi and haupio, while the Pacific Region received a supply of Virginia saltwater taffy.
The Kentucky and Ohio Regions joined the Virginia Region in a study of Kentucky author Billy C. Clark, whose fiction is set on the Ohio and Big Sandy Rivers, the border connecting West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio. In addition, the Virginia Region is in the process of collecting scale model lighthouses and information on lighthouses from each region in the Society and is displaying the collection at their regional meetings.
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