North Andover resident Lindsey Mayo, director of alumni relations at Northern Essex Community College, was recently honored by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) for her leadership experience.

CASE’s annual Distinguished Service and Recognition Awards Reception, was held on Wednesday, January 30, at the Westin Copley Place in Boston.

Mayo, a graduate of North Andover High School, received the Rising Star Award which recognizes the accomplishments of new advancement professionals whose early success promises future leadership and achievement.

She has served as director of alumni relations in the institutional advancement office at Northern Essex since December 2011. She oversees all alumni events, activities, and volunteers including the NECC Alumni Association Advisory Board. Mayo also works with NECC students through the college’s phonathon program, as well as serving as the college representative for several state and national scholarships.

“Lindsey is a refreshing addition to the Institutional Advancement Unit representing the Alumni area,” said Jean Poth, NECC vice president of institutional advancement. “She is extremely talented, ambitious, and a great team member.”

Prior to arriving at NECC, Mayo worked for six years at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS). She served MCPHS in several roles, most recently as the director of annual giving. Mayo also serves on the board of directors for the University of Maine Alumni Association and is an active volunteer with the Alpha Phi international fraternity. She has been involved with CASE International and CASE District I and is a member of the newly formed CASE Community College Alumni Relations group.

Mayo earned a Bachelor of Arts in Public Management from the University of Maine in 2005 and her Master of Education in Higher Education Administration from Northeastern University in 2008.

CASE is the professional organization for advancement professionals at all levels who work in alumni relations, communications, fundraising, marketing and other areas.

Northern Essex Community College student Amanda McCarthy of Londonderry, NH recently wrote an anti-bullying song titled “I Don’t Deserve This” for popALERT, a Boston-based teen pop/rock band.

After hearing McCarthy’s own anti-bullying song “Sticks and Stones,” Patty Duffey, manager of popALERT, contacted McCarthy asking if she would write an anti-bullying song for the band. McCarthy agreed, wrote the song and also attended rehearsals for the band to teach it to them.

The video for this song has been nominated for “Video of the Year” for the Limelight Magazine music awards in Providence, RI.

When asked why she decided to write this song for the band, McCarthy said, “I use music to tell people things I can’t usually speak, so knowing that people find my words on bullying so powerful really means a lot to me.”

McCarthy is in her second year at NECC pursing a degree in music. On campus she is a part of the NECC Chorus. She has written over 100 original songs. Since she started performing at the age of 12, McCarthy has played at numerous venues including Boston’s Hard Rock Cafe, Six Flags New England, Massachusetts State House, The Sad Cafe, Ground Zero, and more.

Northern Essex offers an associate degree in music and a certificate in music technology.  Students have the opportunity to perform in the Chorus & Music Club or with one of the college’s music ensembles.

To learn more about Amanda McCarthy or to hear her music visit www.facebook.com/AmandaMcCarthyMusic

Three Northern Essex Community College employees Patricia Malone Schade of Byfield, Richard Padova of Andover, and Richard Lizotte of Amesbury, recently received the quarterly employee recognition award for the first quarter of 2013.

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.

Schade, an associate professor in NECC’s academic preparation program, was nominated by several faculty members who praised her for, among other things, launching the Student of the Month Program and the College Success Seminar, “She has high work standards and is an effective role model and mentor for faculty and advocate for students,” wrote Janice Rogers, assistant dean of academic preparation.

“I have also witnessed the way Trish works with her students,” wrote Clare Thompson Ostrander, assistant professor of developmental writing. “She is the perfect combination of compassion and straight talk.”

She has taught at NECC for five years. Prior to that, she taught for 10 years at Merced Community College in California, Endicott College, and Salem State. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in English with a German minor from the University of New Hampshire and a Master of Arts in English from Boston College.

Padova has been an adjunct faculty member in the Global Studies Department for eight years.
He holds an Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts degree from Northern Essex, a Bachelor of Science Degree in Geography from Salem State College, a Master of Education in School Counseling from Northeastern University, and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in History from Salem State University.

He was nominated by veteran faculty member Peter Flynn who praised him for his involvement both on and off campus. He has developed four new courses for his department – “Urban Geography,” “Urban Planning,” “Quest for the Presidency” and “History of the Merrimack Valley.” He also serves on numerous NECC committees.

“Richard Padova is by all measures an extraordinary member of our faculty and a person who reflects very well on NECC in the community and local media,” Flynn wrote.

Lizotte ESL professor and curriculum coordinator for the Center for Instructional Technology, was nominated by more than half a dozen of his co-workers. He was hailed for being a wonderful coworker, teacher, faculty coach, committee member, advisor, and teammate to many at the college.

“Rick has been with NECC for over 30 years and maintains the same level of care and enthusiasm for teaching and his students as he has had from the start,” wrote co-worker Cherie Hagen. “Rick’s contributions to the entire college community are enormous.”

Lizotte holds a Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics from Boston College and a Master of Arts in Linguistics and a Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics from Brown University.

Kevin Comtois of Methuen, who teaches in the Global Studies Department at Northern Essex Community College, will share his passion for American Music in a presentation titled “From Slave Spirituals to Hip Hop: The Social and Political History of American Music” on Wednesday, Feb. 27.

Free and open to the public, the presentation will be held at 7 p.m. at the Memorial Library, 2 Main St., Andover.

Using recorded music, film clips, and still images, Comtois will trace the evolution and social and political context of American popular music through four centuries ranging from slave spirituals, minstrelsy, blues, jazz, and Rock and Roll.

Kevin Comtois has been teaching History at NECC since 1999. In 2005 he was a recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities grant to study Jazz with Dr. Gerald Early (an expert on the evolution of Jazz in America) at Washington University, St Louis.

A musician and a historian, he frequently incorporates music into his teaching. “I use music to create a relaxed class atmosphere, to lighten the mood before a test, to make a point about a certain time in history or a certain controversial issue in American’s past, and to spark debate and discussion.”

This presentation is part of the college’s speakers bureau which provides speakers free of charge to area nonprofits. For more information visit the website https://www.necc.mass.edu/community-engagement/speakers-bureau/ or call Ernie Greenslade, Marketing Communications, 978 556-3862.

For more information on the Feb. 27 presentation at Memorial Library, contact the library at 978 623-8401, ext. 31 or rdesk@mhl.org.