NIC’s Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) chapter is directing a research project titled ‘Honors in Action.’ that’s purpose is to enrich students with the opportunity of service-based leadership.
“In our case, we are looking at the problems and proposed solutions associated with access to services for veterans,” said PTK vice president Niklas Kleinsworth. “In our pursuit, we worked with the North Idaho Veterans Stand Down and the Salvation Army Kroc Center to make the action piece of this project possible.”
Kleinsworth explained that the goal is for participating students to develop a strong connection to their community and grow as leaders and scholars. The ultimate goal of PTK’s project is to help improve access to benefits and services for veterans. Their research indicated that many veterans do not access services due to living in a rural location or having a lack of awareness of these services.
North Idaho Veterans Stand Down works to give veterans resources they may have previously lacked in north Idaho and eastern Washington.
Kleinsworth said that he and PTK president Paige Zeller found a man lying unconscious outside the PTK International Conference in Kansas City, Missouri. The man told them after he regained consciousness that he was a homeless Navy veteran with brain cancer. Zeller and Kleinsworth took issue with the troubles veterans had accessing proper healthcare and other resources.
“It is a unique privilege to do a project like this at North Idaho College,” Kleinsworth added. “We say this in recognition of the special connection that colleges like NIC have to the needs of the community, of which few graduate schools have. PTK acts as an extension to the college’s connection to the community. The Honors in Action project is the manifestation of this special relationship.”
PTK plans to finish the Honors in Action project in the spring semester.