Sahara Locke
Published: April 12, 2006
PJC welcomed the newest members of Kappa Delta Pi on April 4. The chapter society recognized and renowned for its commitment to honoring and acknowledging the future teachers of the country opened its doors for only the second time in PJC history to allow the college to host the initiations.
The landmark event, which could best be described by some as unforgettably memorable, is so called because PJC is one of only five two-year colleges nationwide that was allowed to have a part in the society. The end result was a very proud campus eager to support the society’s initiates.
The initiates, Nikki Callahan, Kim Barker, Jennifer Fabbo, Katie Ferry, Terri Herrington, Holly James, Cayce Killough, Julie Phillips, April Smith, and Shauna Tisdale, were the future educators that were proudly recognized and inducted into the KDP Educational Society.
According to Betsy Werre, an event coordinator, one of the influential characteristics of the KDP Society is to basically encourage future educators to stay with their chosen profession.
“Fifty percent of all teachers leave their professions within the first five years,” Werre explained.
By acknowledging and recognizing those who seek after such an influential position as literal educators of the future, the Society and others, such as Marylin Lintene, the 2005 teacher of the year who was the guest speaker at the event, ensure that those who were given the honor of becoming a part of the education society do so with the knowledge of preparation and expectation of what their chosen professions have in store.
Pictures were taken, pledges were made, claps rang out, and tears were shed when, one-by-one, the inductees were brought to the forefront of attention, given their awards of acceptance, and invited into the realm of the society with open arms and smiling faces. The initiation ended promptly at 7 p.m. as hugs of congratulations were prominent throughout the room.
The hour long event may have seemed short according to normal standards, but for the mostly teary-eyed parents, friends, and family of those who were being honored, the event will always have an ageless aura of pride and acceptance. And for those who were being honored themselves, it will remain as a memory of their engraved foundation upon which the building of their life-changing profession was built.