NEMCC HONOR SOCIETY HONORS FACULTY – Wilda Pounds of Booneville, instructor in the math science division at Northeast Mississippi Community College, enjoys lunch recently provided by members of Northeast Mississippi Community College’s Iota Zeta chapter of Phi Theta Kappa honor society.  Members honored the Northeast faculty with a luncheon in recognition of the organization’s Founders Day.  Phi Theta Kappa observes its birthday on Founders Day, November 19. Phi Theta Kappa was founded in 1918 by presidents of two-year colleges in Missouri. The founders were seeking to recognize scholastic achievement by their students, and to establish a common purpose and standard for honors organizations on their different campuses. The founders chose to model their new Society after the prestigious senior honor society, Phi Beta Kappa. The name "Phi Theta Kappa" was taken from the initial letters of the three Greek words meaning "wisdom," "aspiration" and "purity."  Eleven years later, Phi Theta Kappa was officially recognized by the American Association of Junior Colleges on November 19, the date now traditionally observed as the Society's Founders Day.  Jackson, Mississippi is headquarters for the international society.