Penny for your Thoughts

ILLINOIS REGION ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
WE ARE IRAA
IRAA | AUGUST | 2020
The Illinois Region Alumni Association (IRAA) is a region wide alumni association with the purpose of supporting
the Region as a whole, as well as providing support to individual chapters without their own alumni association.
Members of IRAA volunteer at regional activities, host region wide programming, speak at chapter induction
ceremonies, and more.
IRAA is open to all alumni of Illinois Phi Theta Kappa chapters, as well as Phi Theta Kappa alumni that are
currently living in Illinois that did not attend an Illinois community college.
PTK SCHOLAR DASH 5K
Phi Theta Kappa Headquarters is coordinating a
"PTK Scholar Dash 5K" on September 19 to raise
funds for the Golden Opportunity Scholarship Fund.
Anyone can participate or donate...members,
alumni, advisors, family, friends, etc. The $30
registration gets you a t-shirt, runners’ bib (PDF
Version), and a pin!
If you want to participate, PLEASE consider joining
"Team IRAA"!
https://www.classy.org/team/306726
ILLINOIS REGION ALUMNI
ASSOCIATION PINS
We are happy to announce that IRAA finally has a
PIN!!
Our pins are now for sale! They are $5 each plus
$3.75 S&H. (If you order 2 or more pins, please add
an additional 50 cents per each pin for s&h)
To place an order, contact Kevin Braden at
kvnrbrdn@aol.com.
Please mail a check made out to Illinois Region
Alumni Association or make a PayPal payment to
iraa@ptk.org.
Kevin R. Braden, Treasurer
P.O. Box 278
DeKalb, IL 60115-0278
Figure 1: Digital Design
Figure 2: Real Pin

STEVE SCHROEDER MEMORIAL QUILT
The Steve Schroeder Memorial Quilt Raffle has begun! As many of you know, Steve Schroeder, who wore MANY hats in
real life and in his Phi Theta Kappa life, including being co-advisor for the Phi Beta chapter at the College of DuPage
(COD) in Illinois, sadly passed away in June. In an effort to honor him and raise money for
his memorial scholarship fund, the Illinois Region Alumni Association (IRAA) has created this
memorial t-shirt quilt.
The 4 shirts along the top row are all general Illinois Region shirts with the other 16 being
from past regional events...most if not all ones that Steve attended. Chances are as
follows...$1 each, 6 for $5, 13 for $10, 30 for $20, 40 for $25, or 100 for $50. You can
purchase them online by sending payment via PayPal to IRAAPTK@gmail.com or you can
mail a check (made out to IRAA) to Kevin R. Braden, PO Box 278, DeKalb, IL, 60115-0278.
To honor Steve even more the drawing will take place during the annual Regional Leadership Institute this October.
Pictured with the quilt are IRAA advisor, Lori Garrett, IRAA advisor and Steve's co-advisor at COD, Shannon Hernandez,
and Illinois Regional Coordinator, Adrienne Barkley Giffin. Please feel free to contact us with any questions. Thank you!
HONOR STUDY TOPIC ZOOM – August 28th
On August 28 th at 7pm we will be discussing Theme 1, the Heirs of Our Ways, from the current
Honors Program Guide ("To the Seventh Generation: Inheritance and Legacy") with special
guest Barbara Wolf-Ebert. Barbara is a former International Officer and an Alumni Faculty
Scholar for the annual International Honors Study Institute. She has a rich history with Phi
Theta Kappa and the Illinois Region Alumni Association (IRAA) considers itself VERY lucky to
have her as a guest facilitator for our upcoming Honors Study Topic (HST) Zoom event. The
question that we will be discussing is, "How does growing up in a certain zip code affect a
child's life or success?” The Honors Program Guide can be found at the link below:
https://portal.ptk.org/Portals/0/docs/honors/Honors-Program-Guide.pdf
Barbara Wolf-Ebert
Due to a 100 participant limit please RSVP to this event with the following link:
https://www.facebook.com/events/3390879884297296/https://www.facebook.com/events/33908798842
97296/

IRAA SPOTLIGHT: SHANDA ROBB
Hi everyone! I am Shanda Robb. I graduated from Black Hawk College this
spring with my AAS in Computer Information Technology, on the Application
Developer track. During my time at BHC, I served as both Vice President of
Leadership and chapter President of our local Eta Kappa chapter. I became a
part of IRAA during this year’s first ever, Virtual Regional Conference and am
looking forward to the year ahead!
Prior to attending Black Hawk, I worked in the dental industry for a little over 17
years. I had always wanted to go back to school and when the opportunity
presented itself, I jumped on it and have not looked back since! I now work as a web developer at a wonderful, family
owned company.
In my free time, I enjoy traveling, camping (no tents, camper only!), trying new recipes, and spending time with my
family, which includes my husband, 4 children, granddaughter, and our miniature dachshund, Tucker.
Shanda Robb was recently the recipient of the 2020 New Century Workforce Pathway Scholarship. Congratulations!
HAVE YOU SEEN OUR PHOTO MONTAGE?
Thanks to the hard work of Nicole Holm our Public
Relations Secretary and IRAA member Christina Schulte
Boyce, the Illinois Region Alumni Association finally has a
photo montage to call our very own. You can view this
photo montage by clicking the link below.
https://youtu.be/8GR8mTP8ljU
IRAA MERCHANDISE: CAFÉ PRESS
This year IRAA has been hard at work thinking
about how we could offer our members some
great IRAA gear. With the help of our IRAA
Treasurer Kevin Braden, we now have a store on
Café Press. Proceeds made from the purchases on
this online store will benefit IRAA, its members,
and scholarships. So, if you are looking for a great
gift for yourself, family, and friends be sure to
check out our store. You can access the store with
the following link:
https://www.cafepress.com/IRAA

SOCIAL MEDIA
https://www.facebook.com/IRAAPTK/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2ZxwsZs
FJmrcw37n_XWpFA/featured
https://illinois-region.ptk.org/Alumni/IRAABlog.aspx
https://www.linkedin.com/in/iraa-illinois-regionalumni-association-13b1b4b6/

2020-2021 Officer Contact Information
The elected officers of this organization shall be: President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Public
Relations Secretary, and one (1) District Representative from each of the four (4) Illinois Districts. All
officers will serve members, chapters, and regions of Phi Theta Kappa – to include responsibilities
defined in the bylaws and duties that arise with the needs of those the Association pledges to support.
President
Raymond Buchanan Jr
raymondbuchananjr@yahoo.com
Vice President
Cienna Jones
Ciennajones@hotmail.com
Treasurer/Membership Officer
Kevin R. Braden
kvnrbrdn@aol.com
Secretary
Angel Peterson
angelpeterson214@gmail.com
Public Relations Secretary
Nicole Holm
ilnvp12@gmail.com
Southern District Representative
Dottie Bourn
dottipicus.ptk@gmail.com
Central District Representative
Vacant
Northern District Representative
Shanda Robb
shanda@leerdesigns.com
Northeast District Representative
Vacant
Illinois Region Alumni Association
iraa@ptk.org
Advisors
Lori Garrett
lgarrett@parkland.edu
Shannon Hernandez
hernan@cod.edu