Three NECC Students receive the Knights of the STEM Table Award (L to R) Anglea Reppucci-Mathieu of Methuen, Robert Moeller of Andover, and Aranxa Pena-Mendez of Lawrence.

Three high-achieving Northern Essex Community College STEM students recently became the first to receive the Knights of the STEM Table Award, recognizing academic achievements in the face of obstacles.

The inaugural group included Angela Reppucci-Mathieu of Methuen, an environmental science major; Robert Moeller of Andover, an electrical engineering major; and Aranxa Pena-Mendez of Lawrence, a computer information science major.

Three students will be selected for the honor each semester, based on nominations from faculty.  Students receive a certificate presented by Northern Essex President Lane Glenn at an event held in the STEM Center.

Moeller plans to transfer to UMass Lowell to continue his education after receiving his degree from Northern Essex this spring. Based on his success, his advice to Northern Essex students is “Don’t skip steps!”

Pena-Mendez is a computer information science transfer student from Lawrence, who graduated from Northern Essex in December 2018. She hopes to one day get her bachelor’s degree in her field and to complete an internship in computer science. During her time at Northern Essex Pena-Mendez was involved in activities such as the STEM academy in 2017, and “The Pipeline from School to Industry” Panel in Spring 2018. She is “grateful that my efforts have been recognized by other people,” and “will continue to work hard to achieve my goals.”

Reppucci-Mathieu is a 2015 graduate of Salem High School.  Her goal is to transfer to UMass Boston or UMass Lowell after graduating from Northern Essex and pursue a career as a field scientist.  She is applying to internships for this summer.  Reppucci-Mathieu says “I am happy to see my hard work paying off and I’m looking forward to continue working towards my future career in STEM.”

To learn more about STEM Programs offered at Northern Essex, visit the website.

International Women’s Day

Northern Essex Community College will host its second annual International Women’s Day event on Tuesday, March 5, from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in the Hartleb Technology Center with a panel of four local women who hold high profile positions.

Following the theme of “Balance for Better,” they will share their stories as to what motivated them to become agents of change. They will describe their challenges and share advice for college students who want to make the world a better place.

This event is free and open to the college community. Faculty are encouraged to ask their students to attend. Please register here for the event.

The event, sponsored by NECC’s student life, will provide a light lunch. Speakers include Mary Ellen Daly O’Brien, Haverhill City Council; Bopha Malone, Enterprise Bank vice president; Juana Matias, attorney and social worker; and Tram Nguyen, Massachusetts State Representative.

For additional information, contact Janel D’Agata Lynch, NECC’s coordinator of community resources, at jdagatalynch@necc.mass.edu

Christina Dietrich will lead  piano master class at NECC.

The music program at Northern Essex Community College will present a free piano master class workshops on the art of piano playing, led by NECC Music Professor Christina Dietrich, on Saturday, April 13, at 4 p.m. in the Hartleb Building, on the Haverhill campus, 100 Elliott Street.

The master class, which is open to pianists of all levels, is designed to provide students with a chance to perform and learn in a cooperative group setting. The session will explore piano performance and preparation techniques and cover a range of solo piano works as well as instrumental and vocal works with piano accompaniment.

Dietrich maintains a longstanding career as a soloist and educator. She has performed on such stages as Symphony Hall, the Lincoln Center, and Jordan Hall. In addition to her faculty position at Northern Essex, she serves as piano department co-chair at Indian Hill Music, director of the Chopin Conservatory of Music on the North Shore, and as adjunct professor at Mount Wachusett Community College. Recently, Dietrich was named artistic director of the Steinway Society of Massachusetts.

She holds degrees in music from the New England Conservatory of Music and Boston University. She was awarded a Steinway & Sons Top Teacher Award for 2017 and 2018. Most recently, she was designated a Steinway ambassador for M. Steinert & Sons.

For more information about this master classes or about the music program at Northern Essex, contact Dr. David Garcia, music department chair, at 978-556-3321 or Dietrich, at cdietrich@necc.mass.edu.

Northern Essex offers an associate degree in general studies: music option and a certificate in music technology.

NECC/Methuen Police Academy Director John Scippa

Retired Stratham, NH, Police Chief John Scippa, has been named  director of the Northern Essex Community College/ Methuen Police Academy. Scippa stepped into his new role on Monday, February 11.

Scippa, who was appointed Stratham Chief of Police in 2009, oversaw 12 full-time employees and an operating budget of $1.4 million. For five years prior to that, he served as lieutenant executive officer for the North Hampton, NH, police department. From 1998 to 2004, he was a law enforcement training specialist for the New Hampshire Police Standards and Training in Concord, NH.

“During my law enforcement career in New Hampshire, I always considered my time as a training specialist at the NH Police Academy to have been very rewarding and purposeful,” Scippa said. “I consider training police officers to be a privilege and I’m excited to be back in the police-training environment at Northern Essex.”

The Exeter, NH, resident earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of New Hampshire and a Master of Science in Law Enforcement Administration from Western New England University.

Scippa was an active member in the Rockingham County Law Enforcement Officers Association, The Rockingham County Chiefs Association, and the New Hampshire Association of Chiefs of Police, the New England Chiefs of Police Association, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Seacoast Emergency Response Team.

The Northern Essex/Methuen Police Academy has graduated four classes since its inception in January of 2015. To date, more than 400 recruits have graduated from the academy, serving 52 municipal police departments, eight colleges and universities, Massachusetts Port Authority, and the Somerville Housing Authority. The largest class of 77 graduated in September of 2018. The next class will graduate in April of 2019.

All the graduates complete an intensive 24-week program that includes constitutional law, prevention and intervention, community policing, domestic violence, elder abuse, and victims’ rights, and other topics. The recruits undergo 900 hours of training, defensive driving, daily physical fitness training, and firearms training. All training takes place on the Haverhill Campus except for firearms training and emergency driving techniques, which are 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 addition of John Scippa to the Academy strengthens an already tremendous partnership between the police chiefs and Northern Essex Community College to provide professional police recruit training in Massachusetts,” said Lawrence Police Chief Roy Vasquez. “John brings an incredible amount of experience and expertise in the area of training and I look forward to working with him.”

The academy opened in response to a shortage of academies in the area. At that time, Haverhill Police Chief Alan DeNaro, said the Merrimack Valley has needed a regional police academy for more than 25 years.

“By partnering with NECC, we are able to move quickly and efficiently to train our new recruits as they embark on their chosen profession,” DeNaro said.

Collaborations between public safety providers and community colleges lead to better-educated first responders, according to Northern Essex President Lane Glenn.

“We can’t eliminate the incidents of violence that have taken place across the country, but better training can help reduce those incidents,” Glenn said.

They can also help provide a safer campus, said Glenn.  “Academies provide a very visible police presence and can be comforting and an effective deterrent to crime.”

Glenn said that future goals included adding a credit component to the academies, allowing recruits in the academies to earn college credits and work toward an associate degree.

For additional information, contact Michael McCarthy, vice president of Northern Essex’s administration and finance department at mmccarthy1@necc.mass.edu.

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