As part of the first-ever Earth Day Celebration on the Rankin Campus, students and faculty highlighted the benefits of recycling and the fact that monies earned from recycling fund student scholarships. Participants included, from left, Jason Pope, director of Sustainability; Leon Jackson, recyclenator; student Zack Gray of Pelahatchie; student Amber Capps-Podemski of Jackson; Joy Rhoads, geography and history instructor and Phi Theta Kappa adviser; student James Weathersby of Mendenhall; Mindy Stevens, Sustainability Projects coordinator; Judy Isonhood, Phi Theta Kappa Faculty adviser and Elizabeth Price, administrative assistant.
Jasmine McGee of Jackson attempts to make the Earth ball into the recycling bin to win candy during Earth Day at the ̨ʹٷվ Community College Rankin Campus.
̨ʹٷվ Community College Rankin Campus Phi Theta Kappa adviser Joy Rhoades, from left; student Zack Gray of Pelahatchie, Forrest Gordon, Customer Service Specialist for Mississippi Department of Transportation; student Brandie Welch of Braxton, student Brandon Jenkins of Brandon and ̨ʹٷվ Community College Rankin Campus Phi Theta Kappa adviserJudith Isonhood.
As part of the first-ever Earth Day Celebration at ̨ʹٷվ Community College’s Rankin Campus, Phi Theta Kappa members, other students and faculty highlighted the benefits of recycling and the fact that monies earned from recycling fund student scholarships.
“We hope to encourage awareness of and a significant increase in recycling to benefit our students, our college and the community,” said Joy Rhoads, geography and history instructor and adviser for the Rankin Campus Phi Theta Kappa.
Jason Pope, director of Sustainability for ̨ʹٷվ Community College, said local businesses and individuals donate their recyclables to ̨ʹٷվ. “The ̨ʹٷվ County Sheriff’s Department uses our trucks and trailers to pick up and deliver the recyclables to the ̨ʹٷվ Community College Recycling Facility located near the prison,” Pope said. “The Sheriff’s Department provides free labor throughout the process of picking up, sorting and baling the recyclables in preparation for selling the goods. We then coordinate shipping and selling the recyclables to a recycling facility.”
After all of the expenses from program operations are paid – maintenance on trucks, trailers, baling equipment, etc., the proceeds are then used for scholarships. Those benefiting from the scholarships are ̨ʹٷվ Community College Honors Students at the Raymond Campus, who volunteer in the program, and the prisoners at the ̨ʹٷվ County Penal Farm who take GED classes and other vocational classes.
For more on Phi Theta Kappa at ̨ʹٷվ Community College, see /student-life/clubs-groups/ptk.
As Mississippi’s largest community college, ̨ʹٷվ Community College is a comprehensive institution offering quality, affordable educational opportunities with more than 170 academic, career and technical programs. With six locations in central Mississippi, ̨ʹٷվ enrolled nearly 12,000 credit students in fall 2014. To learn more, visit or call 1.800.̨ʹٷվCC.