CHICAGO HEIGHTS—(ENEWSPF)—September 24, 2013. May 2013 Prairie State College (PSC) graduate Katie Hughes recently was named the 2013 winner of the Dr. James H. Griffith Community Service Award at PSC. She received the award during the August meeting of the PSC Board of Trustees.
The award is named after the former trustee, who served on the PSC Board of Trustees for 25 years. It is intended to recognize a person or group at PSC who has contributed in an extraordinary way to the community.
Hughes was the treasurer for the Culture Club, Gay-Straight Alliance, Drama Club, and Phi Theta Kappa. She also initiated charity drives for the “Rockin’ for the Troops” event through Phi Theta Kappa and the Student Veterans Club; worked at the concert to help “Operation Support Our Troops,” which raised money to send care packages; worked to initiate an event for Respond Now; and raised money and participated in the Walk of Hope. She was a Spanish tutor and teacher’s assistant in the multi-level ESL class through her Spanish Class Service Learning project.
“If Katie learned of an organization that was going to have a fundraiser, she would volunteer to help, even if it was not a club she was in at the time,” said PSC Coordinator of Student and Campus Life Helen Manley, who nominated Hughes for the award.
The first in her family to graduate from college, Hughes earned her A.A. degree from PSC and has begun a bachelor’s degree program in accounting at Sierra Nevada College.
“Katie faced some tough challenges, but she succeeded in not only helping herself, but many others as well,” Manly said. “She was a good role model, and we were very fortunate to have her in the PSC family…. Katie is a great example of what you can accomplish when you try,” she added.
Source: http://prairiestate.edu
