Members

Mary Lee of Halstead and Heather Van Orden of Wichita represented Cowley on the All-USACommunity and Junior College Academic Team for 1997. The two sophomores also were members of theAll-Kansas Academic Team, comprised of students from each of the19 community colleges in the state."I was very surprised, totally shocked," Van Orden said upon being nominated. "I feel very honoredmy last year in college."Van Orden graduated in May 1997 with an associate of applied science degree in interpreter training.since this isShe was an interpreter for the deaf at Douglass High School.Van Orden, the daughter of Rita and Gary Van Orden of Mulvane, had a 3.91 grade-point average. Shebecame interested in interpreting for the deaf after seeing an instructor while she was in Girl Scouts. Shetook conversational sign language in the summer of 1995 and loved it.Van Orden worked full-time at Douglass and took classes at night. While attending Cowley's MulvaneCenter, Van Orden has served as secretary for the Students Today Interpreters Tomorrow and was a memberof the Student Activities Association. She is a 1994 graduate of Mulvane High School.Lee is a 1995 graduate of Halstead High School and majored in art. She has her sights set on a careerin art therapy."I plan to work with handicappedchildren," Lee said of her career plans."Art therapy is a way for them to expresstheir emotions in a non-violent atmosphere.Elderly doing crafts is a form of arttherapy. It gives people some sense ofworth."Lee was Cowley's October 1996Student of the Month. She was anOrientation Ambassador, StudentAmbassador, sat on the Art ExhibitCommittee, was on the Social ScienceDivision Advisory Board, was presidentof Phi Theta Kappa, was StudentGovernment Association secretary andchaired the public relations,ad hoc, andhomecoming committees, was a memberof CC Singers, Volunteers LearningThrough Service, was Act One publicity chair as well as house crew committee, and held work-study jobsin Social Science, Humanities, and the admissions office.The All-USA Team is sponsored by USA Today newspaper, the American Association of CommunityColleges, and Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society. The All-Kansas Team was honored at a luncheonFeb. 12, 1997 at the capitol in Topeka. This is the second consecutive year that the group of 38 studentshave been given statewide recognition.The purpose of the program is to recognize scholarly achievements of students enrolled in community,technical and junior colleges. For the purpose of this award, "scholar" is defined as one who excels in theclassroom, who has the intellectual curiosity to pursue academic, career, and cultural enrichment outside thetraditional classroom, who shows evidence of substantial development of talents in academic and technicaleducation, and who has demonstrated an ability to share this development with others.Students must possess a cumulative grade-point average of not less than 3.25 out of a possible 4.0 in allcredit course work taken at the college.Independent judges will review nominations and select a 20-member national first team. The judges willselect another 40 nominees to comprise 20-member second and third teams. Each member of the first teamwill receive a $2,500 cash award by USA Today. The awards were presented to first-team members duringthe AACC annual convention in Anaheim, Calif, April 14.Heather Van Orden, Dr, Pat McAtee, Mary Lee, aid Lois Sampson