Four Gulf Coast students named to PTK’s All-Mississippi Academic Team

Four Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College students were named to the Phi Theta Kappa All-Mississippi Academic Team. Bottom row, from left, are Carmel Keeton and Angela Quintana, both from the Jackson County Campus, and Kale Hatten, from the Perkinston Campus. Top row, from left, are Dr. Joan Haynes, vice president of Instruction and Student Services; Dr. Jason Pugh, vice president of the Jackson County Campus; and Jordan Sanderson, language arts instructor at the Jackson County Campus.

Four Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College students were named to the Phi Theta Kappa All-Mississippi Academic Team. One student, Angela Quintana, from the Jackson County Campus, was named to the All-Mississippi Academic First Team. Three others, Brittany Smith, from the Perkinston Campus, Kale Hatten, from the Perkinston Campus, and Karmel Keeton, from the Jackson County Campus, were All-Mississippi Academic Second Team. The students were recognized at a ceremony held in Jackson on March 25.

Each two-year college in Mississippi may nominate two students per campus to the All-USA Academic Team. Students from Mississippi nominated to the national team comprise the All-Mississippi Academic Team. Nominations are based on outstanding academic performance and service to the college and community.

Angela Quintana, of Ocean Springs, was not only named to the All-Mississippi Team, she is also a Coca-Cola Bronze Scholar and received the prestigious Udall Scholarship for students in an environmentally-related field, one of only three community college students in the nation to receive the scholarship.

“Being a member of PTK has certainly opened a lot of doors for me,” she said. “Attending an out-of-state university and getting a law degree are expensive goals, I know. I am just thrilled I have been given the opportunities to follow those dreams.” Quintana is a sophomore in environmental science at the Jackson County Campus. She currently serves as PTK treasurer on that campus. After graduation this year, she plans on majoring in environmental law.

Kale Hatten, of Wiggins, was also chosen as a 2010 Coca-Cola National finalist, which earns him a scholarship. Hatten, a sophomore pre-veterinary major, plans to attend Mississippi State University in the fall. “After graduation here, I plan to go on to MSU,” he said. “I am interested in working with large animals and, hopefully, one day move back to Stone County to practice.”