Since Sept. 30, Bakersfield College has had a Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society chapter. Phi Theta Kappa provides scholarships for students and participates in community services activities.

The group already has taken part in the Wounded Warriors Project, a project where wounded veterans are provided with kitchen supplies and cards for the holidays. Together with Virginia Avenue Elementary School, BC donated 500 cards to veterans, 400 of which were signed by students here on campus.

In order to join PTK, you must have a 3.5 grade point average and a certain number of transferable units.

There is a $65 fee to join. Students must be invited to join, but president of the society Genise Wallace said that if you qualify and are interested you will be invited to join. Members can be active or inactive and still get benefits like the scholarships.

A major resource provided to PTK members are access to scholarships provided to its members. At the website collegefish.org, members are offered scholarships from schools and universities. The scholarships are provided only for members of PTK and other groups.

Wallace said about the scholarships, “It’s about recognizing the students who work so hard to achieve such a high level that they are rewarded with getting that extra step of getting more scholarships.”

The scholarships offered are also offered to students on the Web site without students having to seek them out, a detail Wallace was careful to mention.

The society is open to many suggestions for future community projects. Wallace said, “We can do any suggestion. We can do a food drive, or if we wanted to, go out to a homeless shelter and feed people. It can be anything that helps the community.

“We listen to everything and choose what we do. It’s about helping the community.”

Carol Stiles, a member of PTK since its start here at BC, was invited to the society by e-mail and after researching the group and finding it valuable and hoping she would get some leadership experience.

She said, “I’m really excited to do anything they are doing. It gives you a feeling of accomplishment to be involved in something like this.”

Stiles thinks that the scholarships assistance provided by PTK will help her in her education. She said, “ I think it’s going to be very helpful when it comes to transferring to the university level. It’s really easy. You can create a profile, [and see] what you’re looking for in a school, what sort of scholarships match up with you.”

Wallace said that the group is planning many events for the future, especially after the group gets training from other PTK groups. She is planning to have the group do more community service like the Wounded Warriors Project.