Pictured are Jacob Asbridge and Andrea Hamersky.
Two students from Coffeyville Community College (CCC) will be honored at a noon luncheon in Topeka on Thursday, February 17, as members of the All-Kansas Academic Team, part of the All-USA Academic Team Program. Representing CCC are Jacob Asbridge, son of Susie Asbridge of Andover, Kansas, and Andrea Hamersky, daughter of Mirta Hamersky and Greg Hamersky, Wichita. The event will be held in the Regency Ballroom of the downtown Ramada Inn with Governor Sam Brownback as keynote speaker. Earlier in the day, team members from the Kansas Community Colleges will tour the capitol and have an opportunity to meet with their legislators. At 11:00 a.m., ten students, including CCC’s Jacob Asbridge, will be presented on the House Chamber’s floor while the rest will be recognized from the gallery. The All-USA Community College Academic Team is a partnership with the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, Phi Theta Kappa, and the Coca-Cola Foundation. The program seeks to honor nearly 400 students as representatives of all outstanding community college students around the world. Nearly $500,000 in stipends were provided to students in 2010. The All-USA Academic Team program names 20 students as Gold Scholars and each receive a $2,500 stipend, medallion and are featured in USA TODAY. Twenty students are named Silver Scholars and each receive a $1,500 stipend, medallion and are also listed in USA TODAY. Finally, twenty students are named Bronze Scholars and each receive a $1,000 stipend, medallion, and are listed in USA TODAY. The New Century Scholars Program presents a $2,000 stipend to the top scoring All-USA Academic Team nominee in each of the 50 states in the U.S. while the Coca-Cola Scholars Program awards a $1,000 stipend and certificate to the 300 students named finalists in the All-USA Academic Team program. New Century Scholars receive recognition and stipends at the American Association of Community Colleges Convention April 9-12 in New Orleans. The convention’s theme is New Day, New Promise, New Orleans. Jacob Asbridge serves as president of the Eta Gamma Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa at CCC. He has been named the organization’s Outstanding Member of the Month as well as the chapter’s nominee for Outstanding Chapter Officer in Hallmark Competition. Jacob represented the chapter at the Defending the American Dream National Summit in Washington D.C. and the Honors in Action Academy where he received a Chapter President Leadership Award. Jacob presents the Phi Theta Kappa report at each monthly College Board of Trustees meeting and participates in the Society’s Competitive Edge Program. He has assisted with over 20 chapter fundraisers to help send members to international convention. He has made three presentations at Kansas Region events and chaired the Chapter’s Honors in Action Project, a Comparative Study of Adult and Childhood Cancer. Jacob attends CCC on theatre and Kansas Enhancement Scholarships. He is a member of the College Relay For Life Team. Jacob has assisted Downtown Coffeyville Inc., provides service to his church, and is an Eagle Boy Scout with Troop 585, Bel Aire, Kansas. Andrea Hamersky serves as Vice President of Fellowship for the Eta Gamma Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa. She was recognized as the September 2010 Member of the Month. Andrea represented the chapter at the National Reach the Day Conference of CureSearch in Washington D.C., June 20-22 where she participated in a walk that raised $37,000 for childhood cancer research. Andrea also volunteered at Children’s Cancer Connection Camp in Boone, Iowa, and she worked in the international warehouse of Operation Christmas Child processing gift-filled shoeboxes for children in Haiti and Mexico. Andrea attends CCC on a dance scholarship and serves as captain of the college dance team. She has provided leadership to dance clinics for girls ages 5-12 and has also served as Phi Theta Kappa’s representative to the Student Government Association. Andrea volunteers for Rainbows United Inc. in Wichita, is a member of the CCC Relay For Life Team, and has fundraised for Coffeyville’s Brown Mansion in their Save America’s Treasures Grant Program.