Volunteer State’s Honor Society Displays Honors in Action

By Savannah Brewer

On Oct. 1 from 10am -5pm, the Honors in Action program of the Beta Delta Kappa chapter of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society will be hosting a banned books booth at the Main Street Festival in Gallatin, TN. The booth will be giving out banned books and cookies to visitors, as well as hosting a fun game of trivia. This event is open to the public.

Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) is the Honor Society on Campus. Students are eligible to be accepted into PTK if they have a 3.5 gpa or higher. Students must also receive an invitation from the society. There are many different groups within PTK that allow students to participate in various opportunities. One of those groups is the Honors In Action program.

PTK advisor, Jamie Gorczyca, stated that, “Honors in Action is PTK’s annual community service event. Students start the project by researching problems in the local community and then choose a particularly pressing problem. Through their research, students decide on a service project to help mitigate the problem.”

This year’s project, chosen by the students, is the recent legislature on book banning and censorship in Tennessee. When asked about the students’ project choice, Professor Gorczyca stated that, “Students elected to research the growing problem of censorship and book banning in Tennessee. They have found that book banning leads to a lack of inclusivity in K-12 educational materials and ultimately impacts local economies as well.”

PTK advisor, Jamie Fuston, is another faculty advisor of Phi Theta Kappa here at Vol State. They act as the contact advisor from PTK headquarters and as head of the advisory board which guides PTK’s executive officers and members. They oversee all ongoing projects, invite new members, audit financials, and support student leaders.

Professor Fuston stated that, “The HIA topic concerns recent legislation and backlash against certain curricular and non curricular materials in schools, particularly books that are being banned from schools.”

Professor Fuston also shared that “the Main Street Festival provides an opportunity for PTK members to implement solutions based on their research into this ongoing problem. They will be organizing games to educate the public on banned books and handing out the books free of charge so that members of our community still have access.”

We invite you to join PTK and show your support at the Main Street Festival on Oct. 1 from 10am-5pm. It will be a fantastic experience with opportunities for all ages. You will not want to miss out!