Three Phi Theta Kappa Hallmark awards were earned by Hocking College at this year's Ohio Region Hallmark Convention in Columbus. Hallmark Awards are competitive awards, which recognize students, superior individual and chapter achievement in Society programs.
Steve Shatz ('14) was recognized as the 2015 Most Distinguished Officer in Ohio. Shatz graduated last spring with a degree in Industrial Ceramics. He is currently employed by Allied Mineral Products, where he is a ceramic engineer. He lives in Lancaster with his wife, Tena.
Julie Cohara, Hocking College's Contact Advisor for three Phi Theta Kappa chapters, received the award for Ohio's 2015 Most Distinguished Advisor. Cohara is an assistant professor of Social Studies and has served as a chapter advisor since 2005.
The main campus chapter, Alpha Mu Delta, received the award for the 2015 Most Improved Chapter in Ohio. The chapter received $614 in cash prizes for the first and last Hallmark, which will provide two convention registrations to attend the Phi Theta Kappa International Convention next month in San Antonio. In San Antonio they will compete in their Hallmark award categories on an international scale. Students James Jordan, Paul Gurzynski, Shane Jeffers and Jason Carter will be representing Hocking College as student delegates at this convention.
In addition to the Hallmark Awards, two Hocking College students won Ohio Region Scholarships for the first time in the college's history. Art student Sharon Disbennett won a cash prize for the Commit to Complete Scholarship. Carpentry student Paul Gurzynski won the John. C. Kessler Scholarship.
Additionally, both chapters won special recognition for having the best Honors In Action projects in their categories. This is the most amount of recognition Hocking College Phi Theta Kappas and their projects have earned at the state level in the main campus chapter's 28-year history.
For more information about Phi Theta Kappa at Hocking College, contact advisor Julie Cohara at coharaj@hocking.edu. Spring 2015 scholarship invitations will be e-mailed to eligible students on March 30, 2015.
