In celebration of Computer Science Education Week, December 4 through December 10, Northern Essex Community College’s Computer Science Department invited local high school students to a Mobile Apps Boot Camp.

Two dozen students from Haverhill High School and Greater Lawrence Vocational Technical High School attended the camp on Friday, December 2, and learned how to create their own simple apps for an Android phone.

“The goal was to introduce students to the exciting world of mobile app development,” said Russ Gouveia, computer science professor at Northern Essex.  “We wanted to help them become creators, not just consumers, of apps.”

Mobile apps are developed for small low power hand held devices such as mobile phones and personal digital assistants, allowing users to play games, organize and play music, access social media sites, and much more. 

“There’s an app for practically everything,” says Gouveia. 

Due to the growth in mobile apps, Northern Essex offered a credit course titled “Android Programming” for the first time this fall, one evening a week.  Course topics include: installing and configuring the developer tools, building user interfaces, menus, dialogs, using services, data management, alarms, and sending messages and emails.  That course will likely be offered again in the fall of 2012, according to Gouveia.

“We like to be sure that we’re offering the very latest skills,” said Gouveia.  “Mobile application programming skills are in great demand.”

Northern Essex offers three associate degrees and six certificates in computer & information sciences.  For a full list and additional details, visit the website, www.necc.mass.edu.

For more information, contact Gouveia at rgouveia@necc.mass.edu.

Kristine Malpica of Amesbury, an honors student at Northern Essex Community College, will share highlights of her nearly 500-mile, 40-day trek in France and northern Spain, on Wednesday, Dec. 7, at 5 p.m. in the David Hartleb Technology Center on the Haverhill campus, 100 Elliott St. Titled “The Way Today: A Modern Pilgrim’s Journey Walking the El Camino de Santiago,” the presentation is free and the public is invited to attend.

Malpica, a recipient of a federal Gilman International Study Abroad Scholarship, set out in May with a friend on a month-long backpack pilgrimage along the El Camino de Santiago or The Way of St. James as it is known. She is a student in the Honors Experience program and Phi Theta Kappa at NECC, and is majoring in general studies with a focus on history and anthropology.

Incorporating field interviews and the songs of modern day pilgrims, as well as sacred music, Malpica’s presentation will be a virtual tour of the landscapes, history, culture, archaeology, art, architecture and music that represent the spirit of The Way today.
Pilgrims have been walking the Camino de Santiago for more than 1000 years. Malpica began her walk in St. Jean Pied de Port in the French Pyrenees, a traditional starting place for many pilgrims since medieval times, and finished in Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain, which is where St. James the Great is said to be laid to rest.

In the middle ages the route was highly travelled. However reformation and unrest in 16th century Europe resulted in its decline. In the early 1980′s only a few pilgrims a year arrived in Santiago. However, since the late 1980s The Way has attracted a growing number of modern-day pilgrims from all around the globe.

Gilman Scholarships are awarded to U.S. undergraduate students who are receiving Federal Pell Grant funding at a two-year or four-year college or university to participate in study abroad programs worldwide.

This event is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by the Northern Essex Community College Liberal Arts Committee.

For more information, contact Ginger Hurajt, coordinator of the NECC Honors Experience, ghurajt@necc.mass.edu.

Before Specialist Jillian Hoiseth was deployed to Afghanistan with her Army Reserve unit, the 24-year-old Newburyport native was pretty sure she wanted to become a teacher. By the time she returned home she was certain of it. Now she is enrolled at Northern Essex to make that happen.

After arriving in Afghanistan, Jillian was initially a one-woman unit who recruited other female soldiers to create a “female engagement team”. This team focused on educating Afghan women on their constitutional rights as well as getting them and their children educated. Her group was responsible for holding the first “shura” or women’s meeting in 34 years in the Urgun District. More than 400 women attended the shura when only 20 were expected.

After working with these women and their children, Jillian knew she found her calling. What her team discovered was that the female villagers and children, as well as many of the men, were illiterate which made them unemployable. In addition to delivering snacks, winter clothes, hygiene kits, and backpacks full of books to the children – particularly the girls, they also established a sewing program as a means for the women to make money.

With materials donated from other organizations, her team helped build two prefab schools for girls and implement a radio literacy program which supplied children with books and a handheld radio. The local radio station arranged for someone to read the books over the airwaves so the children could read along.

Jillian and her team’s accomplishments were closely followed the children in her mother’s classroom at the Bresnahan School in Newburyport. Upon her return Jillian visited the classroom. Her visit was the culmination of a larger unit taught by her mother. Students wrote letters to soldiers as part of their English class and practiced their mathematics by evenly distributing items in care packages for the soldiers.

A 2006 Newburyport High School graduate, Jillian could never have imagined she could impact so many lives or that somany lives could impact her life. After high school graduation Jillian attended Stephens College where she studied equestrian science. In 2008, she followed in her father’s boot steps and joined the reserves. In 2009 she completed her basic training. While waiting to be deployed she lived with a relative in California and worked as an aid in a special needs classroom. It was there that she started to think maybe her future was with children and not horses.

While serving in Afghanistan, Jillian enrolled in college courses online through a California community college. When she returned to the states she transferred in 18 credit hours to Northern Essex. She hopes to transfer to a four-year college this summer to begin working toward her bachelor’s degree and then earn a master’s degree in education.

“I like it here,” she says. I love all my classes. They are definitely challenging. It has a small school feel where the professors are interested in the students and their goals.”

Three Northern Essex Community College employees Diana Mele of Byfield, Rebecca Rose of Kingston, NH, and Trisha Foster of Methuen, recently received the quarterly employee recognition award for the fourth quarter of 2011.

The Employee Recognition Award recognizes the many and varied contributions of the college’s nearly 700 employees. Employees are selected each quarter based on recommendations from supervisors and co-workers. Recipients receive a $150 certificate to the restaurant or mall of his or her choice.

Diana Mele, a professor in the human services department, was nominated by fellow co-worker Maureen Dadekian, who lauded her for her grace and finesse when working with students all while maintaining leadership qualities. “Witnessing the way Diana works with students is a learning experience in itself,” she wrote. “I continue to be a better teacher each semester because of Diana Mele’s example.”
She is highly credentialed and extremely skilled, Dadekian wrote.

Mele, a 15 year employee of NECC, earned an associate of science degree in deafness communications from NECC, a bachelor’s in psychology from Flagler College, and a master’s in mental health counseling from Gallaudet University. She has been a nationally certified sign language interpreter for more than 30 years.
Rebecca Rose, a staff assistant in the NECC Math Resource Center lab was nominated by staff members. Jillian Knowles, who teaches in the Math Center, credits Rose, who has worked at the college for five years, with establishing the center from scratch into a “truly vibrant, welcoming, and educationally and mathematically stimulating place”. Rose was charged with merging the Math Resource Center with the Math Center which she did with “grace and courage”.

Janice Rogers, Nancy Nickerson, and Eve Lopez praised her for her high work standards, consistently high on –the-job performance, empathy for students, and friendly, cooperative, courteous manner.
“Rebecca is a tireless worker with an infinite amount of energy and vision for the college- level math tutoring center. She has brought a positive slant to one of the most feared subjects and done it in a supportive and compassionate manner,” they wrote.

Rose holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from UMass Amherst and a Master of Education in Interdisciplinary Studies from Cambridge College. She also is a certified math specialist.

For nearly two years, Trisha Foster has been an administrative assistant in the Foundational Studies, Liberal Arts & Sciences Department. Though the deans, assistant deans, and departments changed significantly over the past year, Trisha has maintained a calm, professional attitude. “She is one of the first staffers that adjuncts and full-time department members meet when they join the Division and she makes them feel welcome and at ease…” wrote co-worker Julie Carey.

Foster holds associate degrees from both Northern Essex and North Shore Community College.

 

Four successful NECC alumni proved that you can start at Northern Essex and go anywhere by sharing their stories with current students as part of an alumni panel hosted by the Communication Arts Department.

Amy Callahan, chair of the communications arts department, invited graduates from programs in the department, which include dance, music, journalism/communication, and theater, to speak with current students on Monday, November 21.

Panelists included:

Lindsey Bombard, Liberal Arts, Theater Option, 2007
After graduating from Northern Essex, Bombard transferred to Fitchburg State College, receiving a bachelor’s degree in theater in 2009. While a student at FSC, she received a Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival nomination for the role of Harriet in Thornton Wilder’s “Pullman Car Hiawatha”. Bombard has worked as a director, choreographer, stage manager and performer with several schools and companies, including St. Augustine School of Andover, Amesbury High School, Presentation of Mary Academy, the Amesbury Playhouse and Ghostlight Theatre Company. She began pursuing her Master’s in Theatre Education at Emerson College in 2010.

Tracy DiJulia, General Studies, Dance Option, 2010
DiJulia is a successful choreographer and dance instructor who works in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. While a student at Northern Essex, her choreography was selected twice to be performed by the American College Dance Festival. She also participated in several of the Top Notch Theater’s productions as a choreographer and actor.

Allan Mayo, Liberal Arts, Theater Option
A member of the Actor’s Equity Association, Mayo works as a professional actor throughout Boston and New England. He was the recipient of the 2006 KCACTF Region I Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship and won the VASTA Award for Vocal Excellence in Performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. Mayo received a bachelor’s of fine arts in theater performance from Salem State College in 2007.

David Willis, Liberal Arts, Journalism/Communication Option, 2004
After graduating from Salem State College in 2007, Willis was hired as a full-time sports reporter for the Eagle Tribune, where he started as an intern while a student at Northern Essex. He is currently covering a variety of stories from high school sports to the NFL and the NBA. He is also a staff contributor to Boston Baseball Magazine, specializing in covering Boston Red Sox minor league prospects, and is the sports editor for the Andover Townsman. Willis was editor of the NECC Observer for three semesters while a student at NECC.