BC3 student Maizee Zaccone named a New Century Scholar

(Butler, PA) Maizee Zaccone, a student at Butler County Community College, has been named a 2016 New Century Scholar by achieving the state’s highest score in the All-USA Community College Academic Team competition. Maizee is currently majoring in English with a 3.94 GPA.

The New Century Scholars Program, sponsored by The Coca-Cola Foundation, Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation, Phi Theta Kappa, and the American Association of Community Colleges, and the All-USA Community College Academic Team Program share a common application and together recognize outstanding community college students. The All-USA Program is sponsored by Follett Higher Education Group and presented by USA TODAY and Phi Theta Kappa. More than 1,900 students were nominated from more than 1,000 community colleges for recognition. Judges consider grades, leadership, activities and most importantly, how students extend their intellectual talents beyond the classroom.

"My professors and teachers at BC3 have been some of my greatest heroes and role models, proving their undying belief in me," said Maizee.

New Century Scholars are the highest scoring students in each state, with an additional student chosen from among one of the seven sovereign nations where Phi Theta Kappa is represented internationally. Each scholar received a $2,000 scholarship and certificate, and will be recognized in Chicago, IL on April 12^th during the American Association of Community Colleges Convention.

"We congratulate Maizee and her excellence inside and outside of the classroom. BC3 was recently ranked the top community college in the state by Schools.com and now we are proud to say we have the top scoring student in Pennsylvania as well," said BC3 President Nick Neupauer.

Maizee is a 2014 graduate of Butler Senior High School and a recipient of the BC3 President's Scholarship Award. She is also the student editor of Facets, BC3's art and literary magazine.

“We appreciate the support of the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation and The Coca-Cola Foundation to recognize the academic achievement and leadership accomplishments of these outstanding community college students,” said Phi Theta Kappa’s President and CEO, Dr. Lynn Tincher-Ladner. “These scholarships provided by organizations like Coca-Cola make the goal of college completion possible – especially during these challenging economic times.”

Phi Theta Kappa, headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi, is the largest honor society in higher education with 1,285 chapters on college campuses in all 50 of the United States, U.S. territorial possessions and eight sovereign nations. More than 3 million students have been inducted since its founding in 1918, with approximately 134,000 students inducted annually.