PTK at Bergen Community College

Dear PTK community,

Happy fall! It’s time to break out those scarves, sweaters, and yes, the infamous pumpkin spice latte. But before you get into the autumn spirit, I want to reflect back on the end of the summer with PTK.

Our students have been hard at work on our two annual projects - the College Project, which involves working with the college administration to improve our campus community, and the Honors In Action project, which incorporates academic research with community service. For our College Project, we are working with the administrators in charge of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives on campus with the support of President Friedman and Dr. Fisher. For our HIA project, we will be addressing “The Art and Science of Play.” Please be on the lookout for our amazing projects!

This August, we participated in New Student Orientation for new BCC students as well as hosted several volunteering events. We made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for a food pantry in Bergen County. We also hosted another monthly campus cleanup with our biggest trash haul yet! Please join us for future volunteer events. You can find more information on our Instagram @bergenptk, our Weekly Email (sent Mondays), and at the Service Opportunities page under the Join Us page on this website.

September is a time of transition, new beginnings, and reflection. It’s a great time to get involved on campus with PTK, Honors, and other campus events. Be on the lookout for programming about Banned Books Week, Hispanic-Serving Institutions Week, and the Common Read. To new and returning students, staff, faculty, and administrators - we are happy that you are a part of our community.

All my best,

Anna

Dear PTK community,

Looking to find ways to beat the summer heat? Join us in PTK, where we’re always cool. (Okay, I’ll see myself out…)

We at PTK have had such a busy summer so far! We have held multiple service events including two campus clean-up days and assisting the Institute of Multicultural Learning at the film screening of “Chosen” by Director Joseph Jung at the Ciccone Theater at the Paramus campus. See pictures below!

Another highlight of the summer has been our trip to Rider University for the PTK Middle States Region Five Star Academy. Over the course of a long weekend, our students had the chance to interact with other chapters in the region, explore ways to “play” (this year’s PTK Honors Study Topic), and learn about PTK programming for the upcoming year. Our students had such an amazing experience meeting their peers and participating in activities like a Dungeons and Dragons simulation, a night of s’mores, and many games of volleyball. These experiences strengthened our leadership and fellowship skills. By joining our PTK Board, you (yes, you!) could also accompany us on these adventures!

Our PTK Board is underway on this year’s College Project. While we can’t spill the beans just yet on what we' have been up to, we promise that we are dedicating our time and energy to making our campus a better place.

We have so many exciting events planned for the fall semester and we can’t wait to share them all with you! In the meantime, wear sunscreen, drink water, and make great summer memories— it will be fall before you know it!

Warmly,

Anna

Dear PTK community,

Can you believe it’s already time for the summer solstice, when the days are at their longest? We at PTK have been taking advantage of all the sunshine through service events and board meetings, soaking up as much Vitamin D as we can!

This monthly newsletter will be a chance for everyone interested in PTK — students, faculty, staff, administrators, and community members — to hear about all the amazing initiatives PTK plans throughout the year. For week-to-week events, please check our Weekly Email, our Instagram, and our Service Opportunities page. We may have some student writers compose these newsletters as well ;)

I’d like to give a huge congratulations to all of our ‘21-’22 board members who graduated in May! Our year was filled with so much joy, hard work, and community involvement, and we are so proud of everyone for their time, dedication, and warm hearts. Our PTK student leaders are truly an amazing bunch — four are Jack Kent Cooke winners who receive $55,000/year to cover college costs! Bergen had the most winners in the state by far — amazing, right? And all of our students are transferring to amazing colleges and universities like Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers New Brunswick, Newark, and the Honors College, Stevens Institute of Technology, Boston University, and many more! Most received lucrative PTK scholarships, as well.

Now, it’s time to welcome our new PTK board for the ‘22-’23 academic year. We have another all-star team led by our President, Kim Gastelu and our General Vice President, Debbie Regan. To get introduced to all our board, click here.

And yes, we are already hard at work for summer programming as well as gearing up for the fall. Last week, we took a trip to MEVO Lovewell Farms in Mahwah to volunteer, including harvesting garlic scapes and tomatoes, weeding out tall grass, tarping a field, and fertilizing many crops. We had 15 students — some from our PTK board and some additional BCC students as well — join us for the afternoon. The coordinator at the farm, Jacob, commented on our efficient and diligent work, saying “Wow, I had no idea the power of BCC!”

You can look forward to many other service events this summer, this well. As a reminder, we welcome everyone on campus, not just PTK members, to all of our events, parties, workshops, etc. Please come and join us!

You can always reach out to us at ptk@bergen.edu and our Insta and TikTok! See you in July.

Warmly,

Anna Gergen

PTK & Honors Coordinator, Bergen Community College