PTK Officers present GRC student designers (left to right) Carlos Ruiz, Sophie Baker and Casey Gimlin award certificates for winning T-shirt artwork.
Student officers of Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) honor society recently brainstormed a project to benefit both their own Alpha Pi Gamma Chapter and graphic communications majors at Truckee Meadows Community College.
“We really like to affect the school community—we’re very big on making the lives of all students better,” said Remy Velardez, President of Alpha Pi Gamma Chapter. “We like that our projects have the ability to be meaningful and change people’s lives.”
One of their Spring Semester projects was to team-up with a computer graphics class taught by Professor Ron Marston. Honor society members asked the Graphic Communications (GRC) program students to design new artwork that would appear on their chapter’s T-shirts.
Another set of students in Professor Marston’s print production class were asked to ink the shirts in the screen-printing lab.
“The design is by students, the T-shirts are being printed by students and the money to pay for the project and shirts was raised by PTK students,” Velardez said. “So, we’ll have T-shirts to wear at College events and functions that truly represent our Alpha Pi Gamma Chapter and our school.”
Three Designs Were Chosen
The three winning designs were chosen by Chapter officers. On March 29, the officers surprised Professor Marston’s graphics class with certificates for the winning designers, who will also receive cash prizes from the PTK; $125 for first prize, $75 for second place, and $50 for third place.
“It means a lot to do this for the graphics students—it makes them feel good and they can put it on their resume, as well,” he said.
The winning designs are by the following student graphic designers:
- First prize: Carlos Ruiz
- Second place: Sophie Baker
- Third place: Casey Gimlin
The designs were screen printed to the shirts on April 1 by Professor Marston with help from GRC and PTK students.
In addition to Velardez, officers from Alpha Pi Gamma presenting certificates to GRC students, and helping with the project are the following:
- Hannah Perazzo, Vice President
- Amy Santistevan, Secretary
- Kathleen Zayac, Treasurer
The faculty advisor for TMCC’s PTK is Neil Siegel, Librarian at the Elizabeth Sturm Library.
About PTK
Phi Theta Kappa is an international honor society for two-year colleges, and students who have completed at least 12 credits earning a GPA of 3.5 or higher are eligible to join the organization.
PTK’s main philosophical pillars are; fellowship, leadership, scholarship and service.
Siegel encourages TMCC students to join the Alpha Pi Gamma Chapter. In addition to building leadership skills and developing college and community service awareness, students also enjoy scholastic benefits from membership.
Transfer scholarships are available to honor students and the PTK logo is stamped on members’ diplomas. Club involvement may also enhance a student’s resume. Further, members join an extensive network of alumni throughout the U.S.
For information about PTK, please call 775-674-7608, and for more on Graphic Communications, please call 775-673-7291.