October 29, 2019
Volume 1 | Issue 43
Your Weekly Commission Update
Community colleges play an important role in educating and training current and future generations of workers,
in addition to providing affordable and responsive higher education to thousands of Pennsylvanians every year.
Colleges Celebrate Successful Phi Theta Kappa Completion Week
Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Honor Society's Completion Week brings colleges together to celebrate student success and college completion. Several elected officials, including Gov. Tom Wolf, and Congressman Dwight Evans, sent video messages of encouragement to current students, which were played at community colleges across the Commonwealth and shared on social media.
Commissioner Lawrence Receives Degree at PTK Completion Event
As part of the PTK Completion Week kickoff event, Montgomery County Commissioner Vice Chair Ken Lawrence, Jr. received his associate’s degree from Montgomery County Community College through a reverse transfer of credits from Temple University. During the event, Commissioner Lawrence also was surprised with an honorary induction into Phi Theta Kappa.
Lehigh Carbon Community College Holds Special PTK Events
The Lehigh Carbon Community College chapter of Phi Theta Kappa  spent several days last week encouraging students to complete their associate degree. “... it’s hugely important to see it through to the end, to finish your two years here and take your associate degree,” said Christian Gould, secretary of the Alpha Omicron Alpha PTK chapter at Lehigh Carbon.
Students from Four Community Colleges Compete in America250 PA Direct Effect Innovation Challenge
The United States is gearing up to celebrate its 250th Birthday with America250PA's Direct Effect Innovation Challenge , which challenges college students to compete to design a marketing campaign for the big celebration in 2026.

Luzerne County Community College , Montgomery County Community College , Pennsylvania Highlands Community College and Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) qualified for the regional rounds last week. CCP has been selected to move on in the competition.
Birthdays & Milestones
We hope you enjoy the best year yet!
Happy (belated) Birthday to Congressman Fred Keller , Sen. Vincent Hughes , Sen. Wayne Langerholc , Rep. Mike Carroll , Rep. Steven Mentzer , Rep. Jeff Wheeland , Rep. Frank Burns and Lil Nesbit !

Did we miss someone? Birthday submissions are welcomed to media@pacommunitycolleges.org .