Victoria Ronan
Equinox Staff
Knowledge, Duty, Power; these three words are the motto for Kappa Delta Pi, the education honors society at Keene State College.
On Sunday, April 15, Kappa Delta Pi inducted over 80 students in the Mabel Brown Room of the L.P. Young Student Center.
At the event, the members on the executive board called the names of the students being inducted, gave them their certificate, and shook hands with Dr. Darrell Hucks, the advisor of Kappa Delta Pi.
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Hucks said Kappa Delta Pi has improved this year compared to past years.
“There are now more than 108 members compared to about 20 members last year.”
Hucks said that members of Kappa Delta Pi are invested in being amazing educators and are committed to teaching.
“These are students who want to be part of a community,” Hucks said.
Also, he said members of Kappa Delta Pi volunteer in schools and in after school programs.
While speaking to the crowd on stage he said building a community and a strong service component is important to him and the members of Kappa Delta Pi.
Bonnie Chalmers, the current president of Kappa Delta Pi, has been president for the past two years.
She said this year there was a lot more advertising about the honor society than in previous years.
She also said Kappa Delta Pi is one of the many recognized academic groups on-campus.
“A lot of people are eligible so why not be a part of it?” Chalmers said.
She said Kappa Delta Pi officially inducts people once a year in April, but accepts applications in the fall and spring semesters.
“You need a 3.0 GPA in education classes to be admitted into the teacher education program, display leadership qualities and need recommendations,” Chalmers said.
She said Kappa Delta Pi is involved with a lot of events that work with children and the community. They also put on events for the members such as resume workshops according to Chalmers.
“The national organization has a lot of resources they provide, Kappa Delta Pi is an international co-ed honor society,” Chalmers said.
She said to be in the honor society members have to pay dues. “This year’s dues were 50 dollars,” Chalmers said. “12 goes to campus and 38 goes to nationals.”
Chalmers said members join for a lot of reasons. ”Candidates join to make the ideals of this society, their own,” Chalmers said.
At the event the members being inducted had to agree to the four ideals before they could officially be considered members.
Chalmers read out the four ideals to them; fidelity to humanity, the ideal of science, the ideal of service, and the ideal of toil.
Katie Hutchinson, the treasurer for Kappa Delta Pi, spoke at the event and thanked the members for all of the work they have done and their contributions.
“It’s astounding how much we’ve grown this year.”
Before the event ended, Dr. Darrell Hucks gave closing remarks.
He recommended students explore as many paths as possible in the education field and told members his door is always open.
He said for the future he hopes to put an alumni component together.
Kayleigh Liupakka, the future president of Kappa Delta Pi for the next school year said her goal for next year is to continue to grow the honor society even more in size.
She said she wants to make more improvements and learn from any mistakes. She said she joined Kappa Delta Pi this year right before winter break.
Hunter Durfee is in his fourth year at KSC and is one of the many students who got inducted into Kappa Delta Pi on Sunday.
He said he joined because he likes the concept of the honors society and what it represents.
“There are a lot of incentives to joining a group like this,” Durfee said.
He said it looks great on a resume. Durfee said he also likes how Kappa Delta Pi is engaged in a lot of community service.
KSC junior, Dustina Cunan, also got inducted into Kappa Delta Pi on Sunday afternoon.
“I joined because I am an elementary education major.” She also said she joined to help broaden her horizons and to help her become a better teacher.
Cunan believes joining this honor society provides a better opportunity to know other teachers in the field.
“Joining gives you experience you wouldn’t normally get,” Cunan said.
Victora Ronan can be contacted at
vronan@keene-equinox.com