NCC students Phi Theta Kappa scholars

Two Northampton Community College (NCC) students, Amanda Alfaro and Olivia Collumb, have been named Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) Honor Society scholars. Both students have excelled academically and demonstrated leadership on their campus and in their community.

Alfaro was named the 2025 Coca-Cola Academic Team Gold Scholar and will receive a $1,500 scholarship. Selection as a Coca-Cola Scholar was based on scores the students earned in the All-USA Academic Team competition. Students were nominated to the team by college administrators recognizing their achievements. The Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation sponsors the Coca-Cola Academic Team program by recognizing 50 Gold, 50 Silver, and 50 Bronze Scholars with nearly $200,000 in scholarships annually, and the program is administered by PTK.

Collumb was one of 22 students to receive PTK’s 2025 $7,500 Hites Transfer Scholarship. The society’s largest scholarship is awarded to Phi Theta Kappa members preparing to transfer to a bachelor’s degree-granting college or university. Scholars were selected by a panel of independent judges after submitting applications.

Both scholars will be recognized internationally during Phi Theta Kappa’s annual convention, PTK Catalyst, in Kansas City, Missouri, April 3 to 5.

The Hites Family Community College Scholarship Foundation was established by Robert Hites, an executive with Ralston-Purina in St. Louis, Missouri. The program is made possible by the Hites Family Community College Scholarship Foundation and the PTK Foundation.

Med school student Kowalski ‘matched’

On March 21, soon-to-be graduates of Geisinger School of Medicine took part in “Match Day,” an event at which all fourth-year medical students around the country simultaneously open envelopes to learn where they’ll spend the next years training in their chosen specialty.

Among them was Patrick Kowalski of Bethlehem, who matched into Family Med/Chestnut Hill at Temple University Chestnut Hill Hospital.