ACES organization receives the Open Arms Award

Long-time and recently retired Cowley College employee James Fry and the ACES organization received the Open Arms Award from the Arkansas City Chamber of Commerce on Friday in the lobby of the Webb Brown Academic Building.

The Open Arms Award is given to non-profit organizations in the Ark City and surrounding area that go above and beyond in service to our community.

“The ACES organization has helped us at the (Ark City) Chamber tremendously,” Ark City Chamber CEO Arty Hicks said. “Any organization I have ever been a part of, the ACES group, has somehow been involved. We celebrate you for helping make the events a lot better for the people organizing them.”

The ACES program involves active participants in the local community, selflessly giving of their time and talents. They are not just volunteers but students with a unique opportunity to challenge themselves outside the realm of academia.

Connections are made (through reflection logs, journals, class presentations, meetings with instructors, and meetings with other students) between classroom work and work in service. The program also takes an active role in teaching others—through classes, friendships, and in the communities.

“This award is an honor to get, and I thank all of the students in ACES who stepped up and made this award possible,” Fry said.

While ACES is a volunteer program, it is truly service learning. Learning, reflecting, and growing through service while applying classroom concepts.

Following Fry’s retirement, Meg Smith, Cowley College’s director of mass communications, will lead the ACES scholarship students in the interim. For more information on the ACES program, contact 620-441-5287.

Rama Peroo | Director of Institutional Communication
Cowley College
125 S. 2nd Street
Arkansas City, KS 67005
rama.peroo@cowley.edu