Alexandra Kelly Brooks Awarded Phi Kappa Phi Literacy Grant

2016 Jul 5

Alexandra Kelly Brooks of Champaign, Ill., recently was awarded a 2016 Literacy Grant from The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi--the nation's oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. Brooks is one of 16 recipients nationwide to receive the award.

The $2,500 grant will be used to support the Juvenile Detention Center Science Outreach Program, which provides a weekly science curriculum to incarcerated teens at the Champaign County Juvenile Detention Center in Champaign County, Ill. The students, ages 10-17, meet every week for two 45-minute science-themed discussions coined "Science Mondays." The program includes discussions on college-level science topics and hands-on lab activities.

The Phi Kappa Phi Literacy Grant program was established in 2003 to provide funding to Phi Kappa Phi chapters and active members for initiatives that reinforce part of the Society's mission: "to engage the community of scholars in service to others." Drawing from a multi-disciplinary community of students and scholars from large and small institutions, applicants are encouraged to consider literacy projects that have creative relevance to their disciplines and the needs of their communities.

In addition to literacy grants, Phi Kappa Phi's robust award programs give more than $1 million each biennium to qualifying students and members through graduate fellowships, undergraduate study abroad grants, and member and chapter awards. To learn more about these programs, visit www.PhiKappaPhi.org/Awards.

About Phi Kappa Phi

Founded in 1897, Phi Kappa Phi is the nation's oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines. Phi Kappa Phi inducts approximately 30,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni each year. The Society has chapters at more than 300 select colleges and universities in North America and the Philippines. Membership is by invitation only to the top 10 percent of seniors and graduate students and 7.5 percent of second-term juniors. Faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction also qualify. The Society's mission is "To recognize and promote academic excellence in all fields of higher education and to engage the community of scholars in service to others." For more information about Phi Kappa Phi, visit www.PhiKappaPhi.org.