Northern Essex Community College’s Life Long Learning Program will offer a noncredit, four-week, Introduction to Genealogy Study Group on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to noon, October 7 through the 28 on the Haverhill campus.

This is open to the public. The tuition is $30 per person. This study group is designed for those new to researching their family’s genealogy and lineage. There will be a focus on learning the tools and resources available to begin a search and valuable tips to help in the process.

Registration is required. To register, call 978-556-3700. For more information, contact Christine DeRosa at cderosa@necc.mass.edu or 978-659-1225.

The group will be led by Marcelle Greenbaum, of Haverhill, NECC’s resident expert on genealogy, having facilitated its Life Long Learning First Tuesday Genealogy discussion group for many years and taught a beginners’ group previously. Greenbaum holds a master’s degree from Tufts University, has accrued decades of research experience, and translates Latin church documents.

Life Long Learning provides opportunities to experience cultural, intellectual and educational growth in a relaxed, friendly environment. It’s a place to meet new people, hear stimulating lectures, or take in-depth courses of study. All Life Long Learning curricular is geared to our special audience of 50+ who realize that learning is important at any age.

 

DIY or Do It Yourself projects was the lead into the Tuesday, September 8, fall convocation.

As hundreds of faculty, staff, and invited guests filled the David Hartleb Technology center carrying plates of fresh fruit, scones, and bagels, President Lane Glenn asked the crowd if anyone had started or completed a DIY project over the summer break.

Sarah Courchesne, a natural science faculty member, volunteered that she spent part of the summer knitting a wool sweater at her son’s request for the first day of school which broke a record for its 95-degree weather. Nursing faculty member Jaime McLennan planned her summer wedding for 116 guests, Gretchyn Gallagher from developmental studies, re-purposed a small room in her house as a designated study area.

President Glenn noted that like all of the mixed talent in the room, NECC, as a college, has its own talents and has accomplished amazing projects over the last few months with more underway.

It’s all Academic

President Glenn introduced several new faculty and staff before turning over the program to Bill Heineman, dean of academic and student affairs, who shared that his family had vacationed in Chicago. He joked that shopping was his two daughters’ DIY project. Heineman went on to give a synopsis of Northern Essex’s recent academic affairs activities. He said that NECC has “seriously ramped up the work dedicated to student assessment.” The academic area is also developing a “math first” program that will require students to enroll in a math course their first semester instead of allowing them to defer the classes until their last semesters. The department is also exploring creating a “bigger, better, intercession” of classes. This is expanding upon a program launched last January between the fall and spring semesters.

The Writing Project

English Professor Clare Ostrander and Aaron Moreno, assistant professor of developmental writing in academic preparation, told their colleagues about a new online, interactive writing site titled The Writing Project that they designed over the summer. They invited everyone to participate in its 100-word essay challenge. They suggested the new site could be used across the curriculum to encourage writing.

Starfish Success

With a starfish mascot circling the room, Dawna Perez, dean of student success, announced that starting this semester, all students will be connected to the Starfish Early Success Program, designed to give faculty a way of alerting or flagging a student who is in academic distress. Faculty will be able to easily connect with academically struggling students. Last year’s pilot of six groups of Latinos students showed an 11.3% higher course completion and 19% higher retention rates than Latinos not using the services.

Measuring Success

President Glenn noted that there are many ways of measuring student success, and, according to Achieving the Dream, a national initiative to help more community college students achieve success, Northern Essex is making progress. President Glenn reported that last fall NECC’s overall course completion rate had improved to more than 73%, the highest completion rate on record. As a side note, NECC has established a target of 76% for the fall of 2016.

In addition, he noted that NECC is a system-wide leader in closing achievement gaps for students of color and low-income students. With 37% Latino students, NECC has the highest percentage of Latinos of any community college in the state, a proportion that significantly exceeds regional demographics.

Teaching and Learning Environment

President Glenn shared that Spurk Building renovations can now be followed at a dedicated website.

He also reported that the Louise Haffner Fournier Education Center building on Amesbury Street in Lawrence has been gifted to the state to be used by the college.  The building has a $1,450,000 value and it was gifted by the EMLO Realty Trust.  NECC has leased the building for many years.

He pointed out a series of successful, strategic new and existing private/public partnerships including the opening of The Hub at 420 Common St. in Lawrence and the new NECC/Methuen Police Academy on the Haverhill campus. The college’s Haverhill campus is also now the training site for the Essex County Sheriff Departments corrections recruits.

New Hires

NECC welcomed new faculty and staff during convocation. They included Kirsten Kortz, educational development director of the Quarrybrook Learning Center; Kelly Sullivan, dean of technology, arts, and professional studies; Marcy Yeager, executive director of Quarrybrook; Amanda Fregeau, PACE academic advisor; Jennifer Levesque, special programs coordinator; Izabela Lem, enrollment academic counselor; Mayra Bonet, associate professor of foreign languages; Eldiane Elmeus, associate professor of first year seminar; Lori Heymans, professor of mathematics; Rachel King, assistant professor of mathematics; Brianne McDonough, project manager TAA Grant; Sheila Pierre, assistant professor of sociology; Carolyn Emerson-Matthews, instructor of respiratory care; Ted Flanagan, assistant professor emergency medical services; Susan McHugh, associate professor of Nursing; Stacy Tsionis, assistant professor of nursing; Leanne Klocke, library staff assistant; Stefanae Bowen, community support services fellow; Courtney DeSisto, career connections office and internship programs fellow; Monica Reum, academic innovations office fellow, Dots Soares-Timas, enrollment services department fellow; Brian Monaghan, EDP Systems Analyst; Kadee Tapley Clerk IV Student Engagement Center, Lawrence campus; Jeidy Urena, success coach, Lawrence campus Student Success Center; Jason DeCosta, EDP Systems Analyst; Brian MacKenna-Rice, assistant professor of human services.

Strategic Plan

Attendees participated in a strategic plan inquiry. Working in teams of two and three they identified strategic goals they would like to see continued, enhanced, or developed at Northern Essex. The facilitator from each table will take the results and compile a report that will be available at a later date.

Northern Essex Community College will celebrate the popular Archie comic strip and its Haverhill influences during the month of October with an exhibit of original comic strip art and two showings of the Haverhill premiere of Archie’s Betty, a documentary film exploring Archie’s Haverhill connections.  All events are free and open to the public.

Bob Montana, the artist who created the Archie comic strip, spent his high school years in Haverhill, and it’s widely recognized that many of his characters, settings, and story lines are based on his observations and experiences while a student at Haverhill High School during the late 1930’s.

Throughout the month of October, the Linda Hummel-Shea ArtSpace Gallery in the Library on the college’s Haverhill Campus, 100 Elliott St., will feature original Archie comic strip artwork drawn by Bob Montana.  The public is invited to attend a reception on Thursday, Oct. 1 from 5 to 6 p.m. in the gallery.  At the reception, comic art collector Shaun Clancy will share stories about the many familiar scenes depicted in the strip over the years, such as the Haverhill Armory, the Strand movie theater, the Hooker Howe Costume store, the Thinker statue located in front of the High School; and Brown & Gold, the Haverhill High School newspaper.  Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday 2 p.m. to 9 p.m., Friday, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

On Thursday, October 1 at 3:00 and 6:30 p.m., the college, in partnership with the Buttonwoods Museum in Haverhill, will host showings of the documentary film Archie’s Betty, which was released earlier this year, in the Hartleb Technology Center on the Haverhill Campus, 100 Elliott St.   The movie was co-produced by Gerry Peary and Shaun Clancy, and written and directed by Peary, both of whom will be there to share stories about their research and the making of the film.  Also speaking will be Nancy Silberkleit, the CEO of Archie Comics.  In the film, Peary explores the origins of the Archie comic strip, including interviews with Montana’s high school classmates from the 1930’s.  DVD’s of the movie will be available for sale.

Bob Montana (1920-1975) was born in Stockton, California, the son of ex-Ziegfeld girl Roberta Pandolfini Montana and Ray Montana, a banjo player on the vaudeville circuit.   He spent his childhood traveling, receiving his schooling backstage in theater dressing rooms.  After his father died, his mother remarried and he moved to Haverhill, where his stepfather managed Hooker Howe, a theatrical costume shop.

At Haverhill High School from 1936 to 1939, he entertained classmates with his cartoon drawings and served on the staff of the Brown & Gold, the high school newspaper.

He moved to Manchester, NH during his senior year, graduating from Central High in 1940.

After high school he enrolled in the Phoenix Art Institute in New York City and began doing freelance work for a number of comic book publishers.  John Goldwater, publisher of MLJ Comics, asked him to work up a high-school comic feature, which was how “Archie” was started.  The first “Archie” comic appeared in the fall of 1941, and, except for a four-year stint in the US Army, Montana drew the daily comic strip until 1975, when he died of a heart attack near his home in Meredith, New Hampshire.

For more information on the movie premiere, contact Ernie Greenslade, NECC director of public relations, 978 556-3862 or egreenslade@necc.mass.edu.

For more information on the gallery, contact Professor Marc Mannheimer, mmannheimer@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.

 

Thom Bradley was nearly 28 when he discovered the merits of running. Now, 38 years later he is sharing those merits with students at Northern Essex Community College as he works to resurrect its cross country team.

Though NECC hasn’t offered cross country since 2007 and there are just a half dozen committed runners to the program, the Haverhill resident (formerly of Andover) is confident that with his own running history and coaching experience he will successfully grow the program.

A native of Brooklyn, NY, Bradley graduated from the Military Academy at West Point. He served five years active duty as a captain in the U.S. Army before settling into domestic life on Long Island and working on Wall Street. During one of his daily commutes he happened upon a “Runner’s World Magazine”.

“I read it front to back,” he said.

He was hooked before he went for his first run. Prior to reading the running magazine, Bradley’s only true exposure to or interest in running had to do with the army’s timed mile. Running shoes were alien items to Bradley… until he purchased his first pair and laced them up.

The alien became the ordinary as he incorporated running into his daily routine. Running shoes became a staple in his wardrobe. Bradley quickly became active in road racing, and eventually ran a dozen marathons. His first race was a half marathon.

“I knew I was in deep when I ran 52 races from March to November one year,” he said.

Bradley redirected his interest in the sport, as his banking career was coming to a close. After more than 20 years in the corporate world, at the age of 48, he accepted a position coaching cross country, winter track, and spring track at Wilmington High School. He enjoyed it so much he took part-time positions in ad services and corporate security to accommodate the afternoon practices. After 18 years, he retired again, but didn’t hang up his running shoes. He accepted the position of track coach at the Presentation of Mary Academy in Methuen.

When the position for a cross country coach at NECC was posted, Bradley was interested. When he learned he would be reigniting the program he was all in.

He is now recruiting current and new students who may be interested in running cross country.  Students interested can reach him at tbradley@necc.mass.edu

As a result of his years of running and coaching, Bradley says his coaching style has evolved to what he calls “laid back”.

“I encourage the students to do as well as they can. It’s important to boost their morale and make the sport fun,” he says.

Bradley admits to changing up the practices to break the monotony. He has been known to incorporate what he calls a “timed celebrity scavenger hunt” complete with signs posted on the practice route, barefoot runs, and hurdle walking.

Northern Essex offers a variety of athletic opportunities for its students including baseball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, softball, track and field, and volleyball.

For additional information on NECC’s athletics visit the Knights website or contact Sue MacAvoy, NECC athletic director at smacavoy@necc.mass.edu.