Recently, the Atlanta Technical College chapter of the National Technical Honor Society earned two awards of distinction from the National Technical Honor Society. Ahmad Johnson, president; Diane Lewis, vice president; and Debora Dabadee, secretary; accepted the Silver Star of Excellence Community Service Award and the Silver Star of Excellence Outstanding Chapter Award for ATC NTHS.

The Silver Star of Excellence Community Service Award is presented to a chapter that identifies a need within the community, develops an action plan to address the need, puts a service learning initiative into action, and encourages NTHS members to become actively involved in meeting the local need. Upon completion of their service campaign, candidates for the award must provide the national NTHS office with a PowerPoint presentation or video recapping the project.

The ATC NTHS members implemented a service campaign to align with the college’s Quality Enhancement Plan focused on literacy. For 21 days, organizers rallied their fellow students, faculty members, and community supporters around the issue of literacy. The Books for Brighter Beginnings book drive was held, and more than 554 books were collected and donated to local childcare centers. NTHS members also sponsored read-ins at schools and nurseries near the campus.

The ATC NTHS chapter earned the Silver Star of Excellence Outstanding Chapter Award for maintaining an active chapter based on the seven core attributes of skill, scholarship, honesty, service, responsibility, citizenship, and leadership. During the 2014–2015 academic year, the chapter inducted 116 new members and engaged them in activities to increase public awareness of NTHS, raise scholastic achievement on campus, exercise their citizenship rights and responsibilities, and grow and develop new leaders.

“This year, we worked extremely hard to have a positive impact in the community,” says Ahmad Johnson, president of the ATC chapter. “Our members went the extra mile to ensure that all our activities were successful. We leveraged social media and implemented grassroots marketing strategies to rally the entire student body, people on campus, and those who take classes online. In the end, we were successful, and these awards motivate us to do bigger and better things next year.”

NTHS is one of the premier student organizations in the ATC campus. It recognizes student achievement and leadership in career and technical education, as well as promotes workplace values. To be inducted into the NTHS, students must be recommended by a faculty member and must maintain a 3.5 GPA with at least a 90% attendance rate.