2015 - Page 10 of 20

Support Services Lead to Successful Career for Lawrence Woman

July 6, 2015/in Archive/by review

In 2007, Jessica Castillo came to the United States from the Dominican

Jessica Castillo graduated in May with an Associate Degree in Business Management Healthcare Practice Management

Republic looking for more opportunity. She found that opportunity at Northern Essex. When she first arrived at age 18, the Lawrence resident spoke no English and immediately enrolled in Northern Essex’s English as a Second Language (ESL) program. To support herself, she worked three jobs, seven days a week, while she went to school.

She worked her way through the ESL program and then enrolled in the iHealth Business Management Healthcare Practice Management Program.

She also worked her way up the ladder at one of her jobs, Lawrence Dental Center/Dental Dreams in Lawrence, where she was promoted from working in child care, to the front desk, to office manager. She now works as office manager at Broadway Dental in Lawrence.

“I love my job, I love the people, and I love managing people. If I didn’t start at Northern Essex I wouldn’t be where I am today. The ESL program, the iHealth program, the Student Success Center, the writing center, the library … they all contributed to my success,” Jessica says.

Jessica graduated in May with an Associate Degree in Business Management Healthcare Practice Management and is transferring to St. Joseph’s College in Maine in September. St. Joseph’s accepts three years of credits from NECC, so Jessica will only need to take her senior year at St. Joseph’s online.

To others who may be considering college, Jessica advises, “Just do it. Even if you can only take one class at a time. Stay focused and keep moving forward. When I started, I spoke no English, and it was hard. Now I am graduating with my associate degree and am going to earn my bachelor’s degree from St. Joseph’s.”

She Shares her Love for the Written Word

June 30, 2015/in Archive/by Ellen Small-Davis

Honors Program coordinator ginger Hurjat shares her love for reading with her students.

Honors Program coordinator Ginger Hurajt shares her love for reading with her students.

Ginger Hurajt loves to read and wishes everyone else did too. To that end, she nurtures the reader in all her students.

“Reading is one of the joys of life,” she says. “Literature can take you out of your world, but it also connects you to it. You can’t really teach that, but you can give your students the space needed to experience it. ”

Whether they are reading a paperback, hard copy, or e-reader makes little difference to Hurajt who for 25 years has been engaging her students to embrace the written word in a variety of classes from standards like World Literature and Poetry to special topics like the Graphic Novel, Women in Mythic Literature and Arthurian Legends.

“I try to show them that no matter what you are reading or writing about, it relates to your world and can touch your heart,” she says. “The material needs to be meaningful,” she says.

Hurajt, who is also coordinator of NECC’s popular Honors Program, encourages all her students to explore reading material that may be unfamiliar.

“Some students already love a subject such as myth, poetry, or writing. I share that excitement, but want to see them expand their world view,” she says. “I’ve had students write to me at the end of the semester saying they had never read a poem before, but after reading poetry for a class, are moved to purchase poetry books.”

She knows how important it is to inspire her students. She herself was inspired by a professor at Youngstown State University, where she was an English major, to apply to a master’s degree program at the University of East Anglia, England. She earned a master’s in the 19th and 20th Century English and American Novel.

“It was something I never thought I could accomplish as no one in my family had ever earned a graduate degree or traveled outside of the country.”

That degree brought her back into the classroom, where she became the one to inspire. While she enjoys teaching all English classes, teaching the reading and writing of poetry is dear to Hurajt, who herself belongs to a poetry-writing group.

“NECC can both open the door to a future career,” she says, “but it also is a place to learn to love learning. There is support at every level, from courses through honors-level courses.”

Lawrence HS Freshmen Hone Career Goals in Partnership with NECC

June 30, 2015/in Archive/by review

Lawrence Superintendent Jeff Riley with students (left to right) Wildaly Santana, Aysha Polanco, and Anabeliz Brito.

For the past year, freshmen from the Lawrence Health and Human Services High School have been exploring career options as part of a new partnership between the Lawrence Public Schools and Northern Essex Community College, made possible by donations from the Eastern Bank Foundation and the General Mills Foundation.

The new partnership was recently celebrated at a Health Careers Showcase at Northern Essex’s El-Hefni Allied Health & Technology Center, 414 Common St, Lawrence. Over 300 people attended, including the more than 100 Lawrence Health and Human Services High School students who received certificates for completing the program, along with their families and community leaders.

The goal of the partnership is to help students narrow their goals early in their high school career, so that when they graduate they have the skills needed to succeed in college, said Ed Warnshuis of Lawrence High School. “Northern Essex was a natural partner for this initiative. In this wonderful building, they teach 13 different health care careers.”

Students took a health care survey course taught by high school and college faculty, in which they received an overview of health care fields as well as details on the skills needed to succeed in those fields. “After completing the course, students should have a clear understanding of their career goals including pathways to certificate, associate degree, and baccalaureate programs of study,” said Lori Weir, NECC director of PK-12 partnerships.

The event included a program with remarks from high school, college, and city representatives as well as a showcase in which students shared research on a number of health topics from addiction to asthma to peanut allergies.

Freshman Aboud Kassari, who would like to become a pediatrician and shared his presentation on the cardiovascular system, says the program helped “a lot.” “We learned in detail about health care career options, and that there are endless things to be, not just a doctor or a nurse.”

Lawrence High School Principal Mike Fiato with students Jennifer Gomez and Valerie Meron.

Next year this same group of students will continue to explore career options. A survey course will be offered and students will be encouraged to take college courses concurrently such as medical terminology, English Composition, and possibly Anatomy and Physiology, said Weir.

Jeff Riley, Lawrence superintendent of schools, said “This partnership between the Lawrence Public Schools and Northern Essex is amazing. More colleges across the country should do it.”

For more information, contact Weir at lweir@necc.mass.edu.

With campuses in Haverhill and Lawrence, Northern Essex Community College offers over 70 associate degree and certificate programs as well as hundreds of noncredit courses designed for personal enrichment and career growth. More than 7,400 students are enrolled in credit associate degree and certificate programs on the Haverhill and Lawrence campuses; and another 6,700 take noncredit workforce development and community education classes on campus, and at businesses and community sites across the Merrimack Valley. Northern Essex is the only state college located in the lower Merrimack Valley Region of Massachusetts. For more information, visit the website at www.necc.mass.edu.

NECC Faculty Busy with Literary Pursuits

June 30, 2015/in Archive/by review

Clare Thompson-Ostrander received first prize from “Glimmer Train” for her story “The Manual for Waitresses Everywhere.”

Northern Essex faculty members were not only busy in the classroom last semester, they kept themselves busy pursuing their own personal writing projects, several of which have been recognized and published by specialty publications.

English professor and resident vampire authority Thomas Greene’s science fiction short story, “Another Man’s Treasure”, received a first-place award in Analog Magazine‘s AnLab best, short-story award for 2014 (It tied for first place with Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s story “Snapshots”). The AnLab award is an award in which all the magazine’s readers are eligible to vote for their favorite work in the magazine that year. The short story category has the toughest competition because of the large number of eligible stories.

In addition, Green’s short story “The Narrative of More” was published in the July/August 2015 issue of Analog Science Fiction and Fact. This issue of Analog is currently available at better newsstands.

Dr. Greene, who received his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and his doctorate in English from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, specializes in Victorian Literature and Cultural Studies. A Salem resident, Greene also works part time as a ghost tour guide.

Fellow English professor Clare Thompson-Ostrander of Amesbury recently received first prize from “Glimmer Train” for her story “The Manual for Waitresses Everywhere”. This is her first, national publication.

Thompson-Ostrander’s story will be published in issue 97 of Glimmer Train. Here is an excerpt from her award-winning story…

“You’re bound to date a line cook, and Mr. King didn’t have any tips for writing a love story, but I can tell you what I know. Loving a line cook is like bumping into a wall. It happens fast and always leaves a mark.”

Thompson-Ostrander has a strong philosophy on the art of writing.

“I’m a full-time writing professor…I teach my students good writing is less about talent and more about work. It’s discipline, grit, and writing every day. I do my best to teach by example, so I write every day, too.”

Jenny Fielding, coordinator of the Lawrence Campus Library, published a chapter in an American Library Association publication.

Thompson-Ostrander began working at Northern Essex in 1999 as a tutor in the writing center. She worked as an adjunct faculty member teaching Basic Writing, Composition I and II. She became a full-time faculty member in 2007. She is currently the coordinator of the College Success Seminar.

She earned a Bachelor of Art in English and Bachelor of Fine Arts from Suffolk University and a Master of Art in English Literature from the University of New Hampshire.

Jenny Fielding, coordinator of the Lawrence Campus Library, is also enjoying some literary success. She has just published a chapter in the new book Teaching Information Literacy Threshold Concepts: Lesson Plans for Librarians, by the American Library Association. This book is a collection of detailed, ready-to-use, and easily adaptable lessons designed by instruction librarians to promote critical thinking and engage learning. It provides teaching librarians with ideas on how to help students understand and be transformed by information literacy concepts.

Fielding holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Master of Library Science from Southern Connecticut State University.

Northern Essex’s music department coordinator Kenneth Langer, jumped disciplines and wrote and published his first science fiction novel, “Of Eternal Light”. The 334-page novel was published by Astor Press.

Dr. Langer of Maynard received a Ph.D. in music theory and composition from Kent State University, a Master’s in Music from Radford University and a bachelor’s of music education from Kent State University.

Amazon describes his novel…”Though it does not feel like it, the people of Kevutia live on a world smaller than they realize. When an investigator is murdered inside the lab of one of the capital’s research corps, Detective Exi is sent in to investigate. With the recent loss of her long time friend and partner, Exi puts the new recruit right into the middle of a mystery. The pursuit for answers leads them to discover that the small world they live in is not at all what it seems and the only people that can save them from its destruction have never been seen or heard from except in fairy tales and folk songs. Exi and her new partner soon realize it is up to them to find the answers.”

NECC Dean Honored by Lawrence YWCA

June 29, 2015/in Archive/by review

NECC’s Dean of Student Success Dawna Perez of Haverhill was recently honored by the Lawrence YWCA.

Northern Essex Community College administrator Dawna M. Perez, Ph.D., of Haverhill, was one of 23 women to be honored during the 32nd Lawrence YWCA’s Tribute to Women held recently at the Andover Country Club.

As Northern Essex’s dean of student success, Perez heads the Student Success Center on the Lawrence campus where she is responsible for linking and expanding student success strategies and initiatives across the college.

Perez, who has worked at Northern Essex in a number of positions since 2006, was nominated for the honor by several Northern Essex colleagues, all of whom lauded her for her for being a role model, mentor and consummate professional.

“She is committed to helping students succeed and her priority is about retention so as to empower students to achieve their dreams and have a better life for themselves,” wrote Karen MacDonald Fehr, LICSW.

NECC’s academic success/career coach Karletty R. Medina, was in the 6^th grade when she first met Perez who was overseeing 63 Lawrence students in an “I Have a Dream Initiative,” wrote, “To us, ‘I Have a Dream’ was not just an afterschool program or Dawna’s job, it was our lives and she was another member of our family. We saw them every day, even on weekends, for 8 years of our lives. Dawna was, and still is, my mentor and my friend.”

Gisela Ramirez Nash, NECC’s director, Title V/Student Success Programs, supported the nomination writing, “Throughout her life Dawna has been committed to improving literacy and education in the city of Lawrence. As a young adult she became involved with the ‘I Have a Dream Program’, an educational initiative designed to positively impact and transforms the lives of young Lawrence residents. Later, she was involved with the Literacy Works Program.”

“Whatever the title, Dawna has been a champion of students, particularly those from historically underserved populations,” wrote Bill Heineman, vice president of NECC’s academic affairs and student affairs. “Dawna has achieved so much at the college, and her positive attitude and “can-do” spirit are greatly valued. She has taken on difficult challenges with enthusiasm and good humor.”

Prior to being appointed dean of student success, Perez served as NECC’s associate dean of access and community building and was charged with overseeing NECC’s Community Relations Office and the Grant Resource Center. She also had a leading role in several national and local initiatives. Perez has also been the driving force behind the Early Alert Program, a pilot program designed to identify students struggling with academic and non-academic issues, and eliminate barriers that impact their success.

Fluent in Spanish, she has a clear understanding of Latin culture and is sensitive to the diverse needs of NECC’s students and the Lawrence community.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and Sociology from Colby College, a Master of Business Administration in Human Services from Brandeis University, and a Ph.D. in Organizational Systems from Saybrook University.

Perez lives in Haverhill with her husband David and four sons.

For 32 years the YWCA’s Tribute to Women luncheon has honored a select group of women who live or work within our service area of the Merrimack Valley, Essex County or Southern NH. Honorees are women of achievement in both their professions and communities who have made a difference in the workplace and in the community.

NECC/Methuen Police Academy Graduates First Class

June 29, 2015/in Archive/by review

Police recruits process in to the graduation.

Forty-five new police officers graduated from the first class of the Northern Essex Community College/Methuen Police Academy in a ceremony at the college on Friday morning.

Michael J. Havey, Jr. of Methuen, who has worked as a part-time police officer and a security guard at Northern Essex, has been hired by the Methuen Police Department, and he was planning to start his first shift Sunday at 12:30 a.m.

“I loved this program,” he said. “It was very challenging and I learned a ton.”

Havey always wanted to be a police officer and he’s following in the footsteps of his father, Michael J. Havey, Sr., who has been with the Methuen Police Department for 30 years. His father received his associate degree from Northern Essex.

Michael J. Havey, Sr., a 30-year member of the Methuen Police Department, pins his son Michael J. Havey, Jr., who has just joined the department.

The 45 graduates— a quarter of whom are veterans—have been hired by 16 different police departments in Massachusetts.

They completed an intensive 21-week program that covered constitutional law, prevention and intervention, community policing, domestic violence, elder abuse, victims’ rights, and other topics. All training took place on the Haverhill Campus except for fire arms training and emergency driving techniques which were held at off-campus locations.

Northern Essex manages the academy with guidance from an advisory board that includes police chiefs from Amesbury, Haverhill, Methuen, Lawrence, and North Andover. The NECC/Methuen Police Academy is authorized by the Municipal Police Training Committee.

The academy opened in February of this year in response to a shortage of academies in the area. At the time, Haverhill Police Chief Alan DeNaro, said that the Merrimack Valley has needed a regional police academy for over 25 years. “By partnering with NECC, we will be able to move quickly and efficiently train our new recruits as they embark on their chosen profession.”

The graduation ceremony included remarks by Dan Rivera, Lawrence mayor; Stephen Zanni, Methuen mayor; Daniel Zivkovich, executive director of the Municipal Police Training Committee; Joseph Solomon, Methuen chief of police; and Lane Glenn NECC president. Frank Cousins Jr., Essex County Sheriff, delivered the commencement address and Class President Richard Sawyer, who is joining the Methuen Police Department, gave the class address.

Many of the speakers focused on the current climate and how challenging a public safety career can be.

“In light of what is going on, I hope that you will be prepared and recognize you are part of the community,” said Zivkovich. “There has to be excellence in everything you do; there is no room for mediocracy.”

Speaking on behalf of the academy advisory board, Chief Solomon said this academy focused on community engagement and community service. “Eighty-five percent of your job is community service, and nothing is more important.”

Sheriff Cousins told the new officers that “Being prepared to make sound decisions in challenging situations is what your job is all about…your behaviors will be held to a higher standard. What you do has never been more important.”

Class President Sawyer spoke about the team spirit of the class. “In these last 21 weeks, 45 strangers have become a family. You set the bar high and you pushed us to our limits and showed us our real potential. We took away what teamwork was all about, to help everyone and never leave anyone behind.”

The NECC/Methuen Police Academy will enroll its second class this fall. Due to its success, the program has grown and the academy will now train Essex County corrections officers.

For more information, contact George Moriarty at gmoriarty@necc.mass.edu or 978 556-1224.

Here is the list of the 46 2015 Police Academy Graduates

NECC will be Greener, Thanks to New Partnership

June 26, 2015/in Archive/by review

Shown left to right in photo: Jean Poth, NECC vice president of institutional advancement; Peter Schwarz, owner Leewood Realty; Lane Glenn, NECC president, and Paul Chanley, chair, NECC Engineering Dept;

A new partnership between Northern Essex Community College and Leewood Realty of Haverhill will lead to energy cost savings and an overall reduction in carbon dioxide emissions for the college, according to Leewood owner Peter Schwarz.

Thanks to a recent net metering power purchase agreement Northern Essex will soon acquire 100* of the solar energy currently generated by Leewood’s newest 1,050+ panel grid, which is part of the largest solar panel roof grid in the city of Haverhill. The purchase is expected to save the college at least $250,000 in energy costs and 8 million pounds in CO2 output over the next 20 years.

These solar panels on the roof of Leewood Realty will generate solar energy for NECC.

Community representatives officially announced the partnership last week during a public ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Leewood Realty building on Newark Street, Haverhill.

“This partnership is important not only for our college and students, but for the lessons it will enable,” said NECC President Lane Glenn, alluding to the ways in which NECC’s new push for sustainable practices could extend to its classrooms. “Leewood will serve as both teaching facility and production facility.”

As part of the agreement, students from Professor Paul Chanley’s engineering classes will have the opportunity to tour the Leewood building roof-top solar panels in order to enhance their understanding of alternative energy sources and their associated benefits. Schwarz hopes to work with NECC students come fall to help his company apply for an EPA Energy Star Certification. He emphasized that the facility would serve increasingly as a “living solar lab” for students and community members. “I really want to share my excitement with a younger generation of students who are considering careers in the solar energy industry,” he said.

Shown left to right in photo: David Gingerella, NECC vice president of administration; Matt Shortsleeve, Select Solar; Jean Poth, NECC vice president of institutional advancement; Paul Chanley, chair, NECC Engineering Dept; James Fiorentini, mayor of Haverhill, Peter Schwarz, owner Leewood Realty; Keith Sampson, Competitive Energy Services Lane Glenn, NECC president; Dennis Marcelo, district director of the office of State Senator Kathleen O’Connor Ives., Zack Bloom, Competitive Energy Services; and Stacey Bruzzese, president/CEO, Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce.

Leewood Realty will additionally fund $2,000 in annual scholarships beginning this fall (totaling $40,000 over twenty years) and will purchase an interactive campus monitor to provide updates on the amount of energy generated and carbon reduced through use of Leewood’s solar panels.

Representatives of the partnership and Greater Haverhill community are confident that the new agreement is a positive step toward a carbon-neutral future. “People will marvel at what places like Leewood Realty are able to accomplish,” said Glenn.

The ribbon cutting ceremony and celebration was organized by the Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce.

NECC offers an Associate Degree in Engineering Science. For more information, please visit www.necc.mass.edu or contact Paul Chanley at pchanley@necc.mass.edu.

Crafty NECC Employees Exhibit Their Talents

June 25, 2015/in Archive/by review

Lynne Nadeau, organizer of the NECC Fiber Arts Exhibit, stands in front of the leaf lace shawl she knit.

Lynne Nadeau, organizer of the NECC Fiber Arts Exhibit, stands in front of a leaf lace shawl she knit.

A casual compliment, from one colleague to another about a hand knit sweater, has resulted in a Northern Essex staff and faculty fiber arts exhibit in the newly named Linda Hummel-Shea ArtSpace in the Bentley Library on the Haverhill campus, 100 Elliott St.

On exhibit are more than three dozen items created by some 15 NECC employees who work with various fiber arts as an avocation.

This exhibit is free and open to the public.

Lynne Nadeau, director of NECC’s Tutoring Center, who organized the exhibit, says someone once complimented her on a sweater she knit, which led to a discussion on knitting, which, over time, led to discussions on other hand crafts.

While there was a knitting group on campus for years, there was never an exhibit.

“I’ve known for a few years that lots of folks on campus are involved in fiber arts,” said Nadeau who is herself a knitter. “I thought it would be nice to acknowledge the artistry of these crafts.”

When she approached Mike Hearn, NECC’s library director, he immediately embraced the idea as the ArtSpace is empty during the summer months. He liked the idea of hosting an employee exhibit in June or July when the library has a more relaxed, informal atmosphere.

Susan Fichera exhibits a child’s smock coat with satin ribbon that she knit.

Both Hearn and Nadeau said they would have been happy with submissions from just a few Northern Essex employees, but were delighted when more than a dozen employees submitted pieces.

The fiber arts represented in the exhibit include, knitting, crocheting, quilting, rug hooking, and needle punching.

“We have a wonderful range of craft techniques and materials with interesting interpretations,” said Hearn.

The exhibit will be displayed now through Thursday, July 2, during normal summer library hours.

Nadeau and Hearn may organize another NECC Employee Fiber Arts Exhibit next summer.

The following employees participated in the Fiber Arts Exhibit:

Lisa Bass, Sue Beaumont, Tommie Corbett, Sarah Courchesne, Susan Fichera, Allison Gouveia, Ann Grandmaison, Adrianna Holden-Gouveia, Maggie Lucey, Helen Mansur, Sharon McDermot, Lynne Nadeau, Kathryn Ronaldson, Marguerite White-Jeanneau, and Marcy Yeager

For additional information, contact Lynne Nadeau at lnadeau@necc.mass.edu or Mike Hearn at mhearn@necc.mass.edu

NECC Students Raise Money for New Bed Pillows

June 25, 2015/in Archive/by review

From Left to Right: Emmaus House staff members accepted 100 pillows donated by the Northern Essex Community College Human Services Club. Front (l to r) Leah Schenkel, Kaleigh Timmins, and Nancy Rusk. Back row, Helen Houle, Gelenni Garcia, and Katie Berry.

Nearly 100 residents of Emmaus House in Haverhill will be resting their heads on comfy, new pillows thanks to the fundraising efforts of the new Northern Essex Community College Human Services Club.

Club members, under the direction of Diane Mele, a professor in the Deaf Studies Interpreter Training and Human Services Programs, and faculty advisor to the club, raised enough money through smoothie sales and raffles to purchase 100 new pillows for residents living at the Emmaus Homeless Shelter on How Street in Haverhill.

The Human Services Club was launched in October of 2014. This was its first fundraising initiative. This year’s club officers were Maria Delacruz and Evelyn Rodriguez Co-presidents, Maria Reynolds Vice President, Alicia Bursey and Benjamin Isaacman- co-secretaries and Christianne Perry- treasurer.

For additional information on the Human Services Club contact Diane Mele at dmele@necc.mass.edu or (978) 556-3359.

NECC Graduate Recognized by Lawrence City Council

June 22, 2015/in Archive/by review

NECC graduate and Lawrence resident Kiara Pichardo and Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera.

NECC graduate and Lawrence resident Kiara Pichardo is congratulated by Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera after receiving a citation from the Lawrence City Council for her academic success.

The Lawrence City Council recently presented Lawrence resident and Northern Essex Community College graduate Kiara Pichardo with a special citation based on her academic success and demonstrated leadership. The citation was presented by Councilor Marc Laplante.

The 20-year-old graduated in May with honors from Northern Essex. She earned an associate degree in liberal arts: theater option. In the fall she will transfer to Fitchburg State University where she will continue to study theater.

Pichardo came to Northern Essex after graduating from Lawrence High School’s Performing & Fine Arts Academy in 2012. She was intent on majoring in photography, but that all changed the day her cousin convinced her to audition for a role in NECC’s production of “Beaux Stratagem”. She walked away with the role of Cherry as well as the new found knowledge that acting was her future.

She appeared in several of Northern Essex’s plays including “Mirror Man,” How the Other Half Loves,” “Front,” and “Stuart Little”. Her acting resulted in a nomination for the American College Theater Festival.

“I love this school,” Pichardo said of NECC. “It offers a lot of opportunities.”

Pichardo was also active in NECC’s Pathways to Academic and Career Excellence (PACE) Program and Lawrence’s Boys & Girls Club, of which she is an alumna.