PHOTO COURTESY OF BMCC
Two Blue Mountain Community College students were honored by Oregon Gov. Kate Brown as members of the 2015 All-Oregon Academic Team, which recognizes students from the state’s 17 community colleges for their classroom achievements and community involvement.
Second-year BMCC students Kevin Hawman and Kaylie Thompson received their All-Oregon Academic Team award, sponsored by Phi Theta Kappa (the honor society for 2-year colleges), during an annual gala luncheon in Salem. This marked the 22nd year that Oregon’s community colleges have selected outstanding students from each campus for their achievements. Each college may select up to two students each year, and those students must be taking classes in pursuit of a four-year degree and will transfer to a university.
Every four-year institution, both public and private, offers a minimum $1,000 in transfer scholarships to All-Oregon Academic Team members. In addition, the Oregon Community College Association has partnered with Phi Theta Kappa to allow team members to vie for national scholarships worth more than $350,000 from the Coca-Cola Foundation and USA Today.
In addition to meeting Gov. Brown, Hawman and Thompson also had an opportunity to meet with State Sen. Bill Hansell (R-Athena) and State Rep. Greg Baretto (R-Cove), who also recognized the students during their respective floor sessions.
Hawman is an agriculture student at BMCC who plans to transfer to Oregon State University to continue his agriculture studies this fall. After completing his degree, Hawman plans to return to Eastern Oregon to work on his family’s farm in Hermiston. Hawman has been instrumental in fundraising for an irrigation pivot at BMCC, bringing in more than $60,000 in donations to the project, and managed to acquire a $30,000 discount on the system from Valley Irrigation of Nebraska.
Thompson is a nursing student at BMCC, and plans to pursue a master’s degree in nursing at Eastern Oregon University so that she can work in either general nursing, geriatric health care, pediatrics or mission work. In the past two years, Thompson has taken part in mission trips to Haiti and Nicaragua to provide meals to families and children, which completely changed her outlook on life.
Thompson’s mother and Hawman’s parents attended the gala event, as did BMCC President Cam Preus and BMCC Phi Theta Kappa Advisor Velda Arnaud.
