CCC student Thomas Johnson has been selected for the All-Arizona Academic Team Scholarship. Courtesy photo.
FLAGSTAFF — A Coconino Community College student has been recognized for the prestigious, 2018 All-Arizona Academic Team Scholarship.
The scholarship provides free tuition for 60 credit hours at the recipient’s choice of one of the three state universities – Arizona State University, University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University.
Thomas Johnson, who graduated in December 2017, received the honor from CCC.
“This is very important to me,” Johnson said. “This means I’m going to graduate college and start my career without going into heavy student debt.”
The recipients of the honor are recognized for their academic excellence and their service commitments to the college and the community.
Johnson is a member of the Beta Gamma Chi chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society. He was honored at the All-Arizona Academic Team Recognition Ceremony in Mesa on Thursday, March 1. The event celebrates the outstanding academic achievements and distinguished leadership of students enrolled in Arizona’s community colleges.
Johnson will be receiving his associate degree in Psychology during the May ceremony. He’s currently at Northern Arizona University, working toward his bachelor’s degree in Psychological Science. His goal is to become a clinical psychologist and work in a college setting.
“It will be a rewarding career to help college students get through a time in their life that’s really challenging,” Johnson said, adding that he developed a passion for the calling after receiving excellent guidance and counsel from faculty members at CCC.
Every year, each of Arizona’s community colleges nominate students to the International PTK organization, where students are judged based on a 3.50 GPA or higher, good academic standing while working toward an associate degree and involvement in campus and community volunteer work.
Judging consists of three rounds, with the second and third rounds held in Washington, D.C. Scores from the national competition are used to rank the students for the state team. First team members receive a $1,000 scholarship, second team members a $750 scholarship, and third team members a $500 scholarship.
Out of the students nominated this year, several will be named to the All-USA Community College Academic Team. Team members are the nation’s top community college students who are awarded $2,500 in stipends, a medallion, obelisk, certificate and are featured in a spring global edition of USA Today.
In addition, the Coca-Cola Foundation, along with the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, recognizes the New Century Scholar; awards 50 students as Gold Scholars with $1,500; awards another 50 students as Silver Scholars with $1,250; and 50 students as Bronze Scholars with $1,000. The top scoring student in each state named a New Century Scholar will receive a $2,000 stipend, which will be presented at the AACC Convention.
About Coconino Community College: Coconino Community College faculty and staff are dedicated to promoting an environment of excellence to support students. Since 1991, CCC has served residents across 18,000 square miles of Coconino County. The College has helped create the region’s skilled workforce, with the goal of improving the lives of our residents through workforce development and higher education. CCC has served more than 75,000 students countywide, with two campuses in Flagstaff and an instructional site in Page.
CCC provides affordable tuition and a variety of certificates and degrees including career/technical programs with more than 50 certificate programs and two-year associate degrees in various fields. Those fields include nursing, fire science, law enforcement and business. Additionally, CCC has programs that ease student transition to any of the three state universities, including the award-winning CCC2NAU program.
CCC reaches out to the more rural portions of the County including Williams, the Grand Canyon/Tusayan, Page/Lake Powell, Fredonia, Tuba City and other remote areas on the Navajo, Hopi and Supai Tribal Lands. Instructional sites offer classes through online, in-person and Interactive Television classes to meet the needs of students in these rural and remote areas. Nearly 20 percent of CCC’s students are Native American learners.