2019 - Page 4 of 24

Presidential Scholars Announced

October 30, 2019/in Archive/by Ellen Small-Davis

Left to right- Michael McCarthy, vice president of administration and finance, with four of the 10 Presidential Scholars Kendra Adan, Jillian Stacy, Mincarys Trinidad Gomez, Neyshkaliz Plaza.

Ten local 2019 high school graduates were accepted into Northern Essex Community College’s Presidential Scholars Program, an honors program devoted to high academic achievement.

In its 20th year, the Presidential Scholars Program is designed to reward motivated high school students who will be attending Northern Essex. Students are selected based on their high school academic record and recommendations from high school guidance counselors and teachers.

“Our Presidential Scholars Program targets academically motivated high school graduates who have decided to start their college education at Northern Essex,” said Lane Glenn, president of Northern Essex. “Most plan to transfer to a four-year college or university after getting an associate’s degree from Northern Essex.”

Admission to the program includes a $1,000 scholarship (over two semesters,) which is renewable provided the recipient maintain a GPA of 2.5 or higher while attending NECC.

This year’s Presidential Scholars include the following (by hometown):

Haverhill:

Molly McCracken, Haverhill High School, Laboratory Science

Methuen:

Jillian Stacy, Methuen High School, Criminal Justice

Lawrence:

Kendra Adan, Greater Lawrence Technical High School, General Studies: Health Specialization

Daniella Cameron, Lawrence High School, Business Management

Jeranny Geraldo, Lawrence International High School, General Studies: Health Specialization

Cindy Pena, Greater Lawrence Technical high School, General Studies: Health Specialization

Neyshkaliz Plaza, Lawrence High School, General Studies: Health Specialization

Joshua Robles, Greater Lawrence Technical High School, General Studies: Art & Design

Mincarys Trinidad Gomez, Central Catholic High School, Liberal Arts

Erika Arias, Greater Lawrence Technical High School, Criminal Justice

For more information on the NECC Presidential Scholars Program, please contact write to scholarships@necc.mass.edu .

Students Advocate at State House for Community College

October 29, 2019/in Archive/by pattygosselin

Senator DiZoglio is seen talking with students from NECC

Senator Diana DiZoglio lends an ear to NECC students during Community College Advocacy Day.

More than 200 Massachusetts community college students, faculty, and staff from 15 schools, including 7 students from Northern Essex, showed up at the State House on Oct. 23 for Community College Student Advocacy Day to share their stories with legislators and to encourage them to support more funding for all Massachusetts community colleges. Students were accompanied by Janel D’Agata-Lynch, NECC’s coordinator of Civic Engagement, Service-Learning, & Community Resources, and Carian Diaz, director of community standards.

The event was sponsored by the Massachusetts Association of Community Colleges (MACC). Tom Sannicandro, director of MACC said, “Today was all about highlighting the individuals who are the most equipped to advocate the importance of investments in the 15 community colleges – the community college students.”

The day began with an opening ceremony and lunch in the Great Hall of Flags where Department of Higher Education Commissioner Carlos Santiago, Senate Committee on Ways and Means Chair Michael Rodrigues, and co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Higher Education Senator Anne Gobi and Representative Jeffrey Roy gave speeches to set the theme for the day. Four community college students also joined as guest speakers for the day.
Northern Essex students shared a productive lunch with State Representative Christina Minicucci who serves the towns of Haverhill, Lawrence, Methuen, and North Andover. Minicucci explained the intricacies of public-school funding that contributes to “the huge disparities [between districts] and the inability of students to achieve their potential,” she said.

Samantha Cook, NECC liberal arts major from North Andover, mentioned that students with disabilities often don’t use the resources available to them, because of lack of accessibility and funding. Minicucci responded by speaking about the importance of equalizing the education that students get starting in K-12 up to community college. Minicucci shared that earlier she had been texting with NECC President Lane Glenn and State Representative Andres Vargas, with ideas for how they can create more funding for NECC.

NECC students got the chance to meet with Senator Diana DiZoglio and representative aids for Andy Vargas, Minicucci and Senator Barry Finegold and continued to focus on sharing their personal stories and journeys through community college.

Sofia Fedele, a NECC physics major, talked about her personal struggles with finding housing to shed light on how the high costs of housing in Massachusetts, especially in the cities surrounding Northern Essex, directly effect NECC students. Abbey Tannatt, environmental science major from North Andover contributed a story about her friend who had to drop out of NECC just to be able to afford rent. And Courtney Morin, liberal arts major from Lawrence, recounted her experience battling mental health to show how widely the issue spreads throughout community college students.

Joe Paquin, philosophy major from Plaistow provided the representatives and senators with a handout highlighting the bills that would support NECC students directly in their community college educations along with statistics to drive the points home.

“I commend you for being civically minded at the ages you’re at and at this time in your life when you’re all so busy with school,” said DiZoglio. “Taking the time to come here and advocate is huge, and we need more of that.” DiZoglio expressed her support for Bill S. 160, an act establishing a student loan bill of rights to prevent student loan providers with aggressive repayment terms from preying on students.

“Community College Advocacy Day made me feel like an active member of democracy, like I can actually make some kind of difference,” said Andrew Venditti, NECC journalism and communications major from Haverhill. “It gave me the opportunity to voice my opinions in a direct way and it gave the legislators real faces to attach to the needs and struggles of students,” said Venditti.

There’s a New Photographer on Campus

October 28, 2019/in Archive/by Ellen Small-Davis

Alejandra sits on a rock in front of a waterfall with her camera at her side.

Wherever Alejandra Chandler goes, her faithful camera goes with her.

Just over a year ago, Alejandra Chandler was one of a dozen Northern Essex students photographed and interviewed for the then fledgling #FacesofNECC, a colorful student photo gallery. Now the 25-year-old is the one asking the questions and taking the portrait photographs.

After a year capturing our students’ images and personal tales, Jose Garcia, alumnus and founder of #FacesofNECC, is passing the mantle or in this case camera duties to Chandler.

The Newburyport resident and NECC 2019 liberal arts graduate is packing her camera to roam both the Haverhill and Lawrence campuses. She will continue to shoot in the style of the wildly popular and highly publicized “Human of new York” blog created by photographer Brandon Stanton. She will only photograph and interview individuals who agree to participate in the project.

Chandler is almost as new to photography as she is to this country. Four years ago, she arrived in the United States from Colombia on a temporary visa to babysit a cousin’s newborn. During that visit, she met a man who would become her husband. She enrolled in NECC’s English as a Second Language (ESL) classes and went on to earn an associate degree in liberal arts.

Boredom and loneliness led Chandler to create a food blog. She soon recognized the need for high quality photos of her food to accompany her posts. Since her camera phone wasn’t sufficient, she invested in her first digital camera. And then a funny thing happened. Her interest in photography waxed while her blog waned. Photographing food, led to photographing landscapes and people.

“I started taking photos of everything and everyone,” she said.

She needed a home for her photos and created “orchideyes.com”. Orchid is the national flower of Colombia.

According to Chandler, she took to photography with the same enthusiasm she took to her new home.

“Photography makes me feel like I belong no matter where I go,” she said. “Everywhere I go I find something that is beautiful. I don’t need to be surrounded by a lot of people I know to capture the beauty. There is a comfort in being surrounded by beauty.”

Today, in addition to taking on the duties of #FacesofNECC, Chandler works full-time in administrative support and as a translator for SPS New England in Salisbury. She spent so much time outdoors capturing nature that she fell in love with it. Now she is enrolled as a full-time student at Southern New Hampshire University majoring in environmental science and conservation.

Her long-term goal is to one day combine her interests in conservation and photography and create a career for herself.

For more information on #FacesofNECC Chandler can be reached at aleja7459@gmail.com or for additional information on this project, contact Ellen Small Davis at esmalldavis@necc.mass.edu

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NECC Leads to Fitness Career for NH Mom

October 25, 2019/in Archive/by Ellen Small-Davis

Amy Jacobs stands in the NECC Fitness Center surrounded by equipment.

Amy Jacobs returned to NECC after many years to earn an associate degree. Now she works as a personal trainer in a gym.

“Mom, did you go to college?” It was a question Amy Jacobs’ kids would ask her. “Yes,” she would tell them, as she did start out at NECC after high school in the 90s. Back then, she didn’t really have a clear career direction, and she dropped out. She never lost her drive to earn her degree, though, and one day when she was driving by Northern Essex, she thought about that question and her kids, and pulled in to NECC and registered on the spot.

Returning to college as an adult, Jacobs knew she was interested in exercise science. She chose Northern Essex because it was convenient and fit into her schedule. She also knew it wouldn’t just be students right out of high school. “There were other people my age. Everybody was so friendly, and it is an easy campus to find your way around. Also, the schedule was great. Over the years I took both day and evening classes,” she says.

She credits NECC for helping her earn her personal training certification. “They definitely prepared me for the NSCA (National Strength and Conditioning Association) Certified Personal Trainer. I think I would have had a hard time taking that. Also, I was able to work as an intern and train people and teach classes here at NECC. Being at the gym I got to see a lot of the team sports and I was able to interact with the students. I loved it,” she adds. Jacobs now works at a gym in Salem New Hampshire as a personal trainer and exercise class instructor.

“I pretty much had my job right away. I was working out at my gym, and when they knew I was going to school to be a personal trainer, they asked me if I wanted to work there when I was done. I’m happy doing what I’m doing, happy to know that I am helping people. It’s definitely hard going back to school as an adult, but if you are going to do it, Northern Essex is a great place to go. The teachers were excellent and I feel I could now reach out to them if I needed to and they’d be there to help me.”

Jacobs graduated with a degree in general studies movement science in 2018 – the same year her oldest son graduated from high school. Her family, including her husband and her three kids, were there to cheer her on. “For them to be able to watch me graduate was really great,” she says.

To learn more about Northern Essex’s associate degree in exercise science (the program name has changed), visit the website or contact Scott Mcenelly, exercise science program coordinator, 978 655-3823 or smcenelly@necc.mass.edu.

Haverhill Woman Finds Success with ESL Program

October 25, 2019/in Archive/by Ellen Small-Davis

Kiara Santana Rosario sits at a computer in a computer classroom.

Kiara Santana Rosario took ESL courses to prepare to enter an associate degree program.

When Kiara Santana Rosario came to the United States from the Dominican Republic, she was 18-years-old. She lived in Mattapan for five months, and then moved to Haverhill. She spoke only basic English, and was a bit anxious about learning the language as the English spoken in in her country was different than what she was hearing here, but she knew she wanted to learn. When a social worker told her about Northern Essex Community College, she decided to check it out – and then things started to change.

She enrolled at Northern Essex in the ESL program, testing into Intermediate ESL. Then she took classes in reading, listening/speaking, and writing/grammar. “I still practice English, by listening to music in English, watching movies in English, and speaking English with my brother and sister,” she says.

The best things about Northern Essex, Santana Rosario says, are the teachers, and the skills it gave her to find a job. “The teachers were excellent, they were always pulling for us, and they were very helpful,”she says. “Northern Essex helped me a lot with my English, and it also gave me the opportunity to work,” she adds. Santana Rosario works part time as an administrative assistant at The Scrubbing Company, a cleaning company in Lawrence, while also attending Northern Essex.

Her studies and hard work have paid off, and this fall she is taking college-level courses, including accounting, her first class in her future career field. She wants to complete her associate degree, and then transfer for her bachelor’s degree. She hopes to one day help people translate documents and tax forms and work as a tax accountant.

For more information on the college’s ESL Program, visit the website or contact Amy Cameron, ESL curriculum coordinator, 978 655-5815 or acameron@necc.mass.edu.

Women of NECC Plan Fashion Show

October 24, 2019/in Archive/by Ernie Greenslade

Women with long curly hair wearing a grey top.

Jamie Sloan of Dani Kaye

The Women of NECC’s Annual Membership Tea will showcase fashions from Dani Kaye of North Andover on Wednesday, October 30, 2019 from noon to 2:30 p.m. in the Hartleb Technology Center on Northern Essex Community College’s Haverhill Campus, 100 Elliott St.

Jamie Sloan, the owner and creative mind behind Dani Kaye, will emcee the show, which will feature contemporary fashion and athletic wear.

Tickets are $50 and include the tea and the fashion show. The event is open the public, but advanced registration is required.

Dani Kaye is a curated lifestyle store featuring women’s fashion and athletic wear, fine gifts, and accessories. Sloan has worked for brands including David Yurman and John Hardy at Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdale’s 59th Street as well as Tiffany & Company on 5th Avenue.

The Women of Northern Essex Community College is a volunteer organization dedicated to assisting NECC and its students. The organization generates funds for student scholarships and special projects by conducting a variety of fundraising events throughout the year, including a Fall Membership Tea, a Holiday Party, and a June Gala Open House event.

Since its inception, the Women of NECC have helped to raise more than $518,000, providing over $360,000 in scholarships.

For more information on the tea, contact Lori Smerdon, NECC Institutional Advancement Office, 978 556-3789 or lsmerdon@necc.mass.edu.

Northern Essex Community College has campuses in both Haverhill and Lawrence. It offers more than 60 associate degree and certificate programs as well as hundreds of noncredit courses designed for personal enrichment and career growth. Each year, more than 5,000 students are enrolled in credit associate degree and certificate programs on the Haverhill and Lawrence campuses; and another 2,600 take noncredit workforce development and community education classes on campus, and at businesses and community sites across the Merrimack Valley. For more information, visit the website at or call 978-556-3700.

NECC Presents Alan Ball Comedy

October 23, 2019/in Archive/by Ellen Small-Davis

Woman sits in chair holding a cocktail and cigarette.

Northern Essex Community College TopNotch Players present “Five Women Wearing the Same Dress,” featuring national award-winning actress Gwynnethe Glickman of Newbury as Georgeanne.

An ostentatious wedding is held at a Tennessee Estate. What could possibly happen? Find out when Northern Essex Community College’s TopNotch Players present “Five Women Wearing the Same Dress,” November 8 through November 10.

The comedy, written by Alan Ball, is co-directed by Brianne Beatrice, NECC theater professor, and Samantha Wheately. The play will be performed in the Chester W. Hawrylciw Theater on the third floor or the Spurk Building on the Haverhill campus, 100 Elliott St. Tickets are $10 for students and seniors and $12 for the general audience.

During an ostentatious wedding reception at a Knoxville, Tennessee, estate, five reluctant, identically clad bridesmaids hide out in an upstairs bedroom, each with her own reason to avoid the proceedings below.

They are Frances (Eliza Volpicelli), a painfully sweet, but sheltered fundamentalist; Mindy (Aileen Corniel) the cheerful, wise-cracking lesbian sister of the groom; Georgeanne (Gwynnethe Glickman) whose heartbreak over her own failed marriage triggers outrageous behavior; Meredith (Sarah Durning) the bride’s younger sister, whose precocious rebelliousness masks a dark secret; and Trisha (Vanessa Romaides) a jaded beauty whose die-hard cynicism about men is called into question when she meets Tripp (Carlyle Bien-Aime) a charming bad-boy usher to whom there is more than meets the eye. As the afternoon wears on, these five very different women joyously discover a common bond in this wickedly funny, irreverent, and touching celebration of the women’s spirit.

The play opens Thursday, November 7, at 4 p.m. November 8 and 9 at 7 p.m. and November 10 at 2 p.m.

For more information or tickets, please contact Brianne Beatrice at bribeats@gmail.com

NECC to Offer Free Robotics & Automation Program

October 22, 2019/in Archive/by Ellen Small-Davis

graphic of a person reaching for a laptop keyboard with robotic automation in the background.

A free, noncredit robotics and automation program will be offered next year at NECC.

Northern Essex Community College is holding information sessions October 30, November 20, and December 11, for individuals to learn about a seven-week, 140-hour Robotics & Automation Training Program that begins this winter.

The grant-funded, noncredit program is free to qualified applicants.

The information sessions, which are free and open to the public, will be held at the Greater Lawrence Technical School, (GLTS) 57 River Road, Andover, at 4 p.m. The program, which is designed for unemployed and underemployed individuals (ages 17 to 29) with the minimum of a high school diploma or equivalent, runs from January 21 through March 13, Mondays through Thursdays, 4 to 9 p.m. at GLTS.

The program is ideal for anyone with mechanical, electrical, IT or manufacturing skills or experience.

This program introduces the concepts and technology used in modern manufacturing environments. Students learn fundamental skills that will help them gain employment as a manufacturing technician or related position and prepare them for the specific training required by manufacturing companies running automated equipment. The program includes online modules as well as hands-on activities using training equipment. The concepts and skills presented during the program are relevant to setup, programming, running and troubleshooting automated equipment and industrial robots.

Students who successfully complete the robotics portion of the program by passing the online modules, hands-on labs and final exam, will receive the FANUC CERT “Handling Tool Operations and Programming” Cert Level I.

The program, offered through NECC’s Center for Corporate and Community Education, is sponsored by a $4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration. For additional information, or to register for one of the information nights, call 978-556-3067 or 978-722-7054.

Presidential Candidate to Appear at NECC

October 17, 2019/in Archive/by Ellen Small-Davis

2020 Presidential candidate Dr. Joseph Sestak.

Dr. Joseph Sestak, one of 23 Democratic and Republican candidates seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination — will appear at Northern Essex Community College’s Haverhill campus on Thursday, Oct. 24, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. in the Chester W. Hawrylciw Theater on the third floor of the Spurk Building, 100 Elliott St.

This will be a “meet and greet” format that includes a brief presentation followed by a Q & A.

Rich Padova, NECC history Professor sent out speaking invitations to 23 candidates. Sestak is the first to respond.

This event is free and open to the public although seating is limited.

Sestak is a retired Navy Admiral and former Pennsylvania Congressman.

For additional information, contact Padova at rpadova@necc.mass.edu

NECC and MCC Presidents Speak at MV Chamber Education Conference

October 17, 2019/in Archive/by Ernie Greenslade

Four men in suits and ties, left to right Joe Bevilacqua, James Mabry, Jim Carnivale, Lane Glenn.

Joe Bevilacqua, president and CEO, Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce; James Mabry, president, Middlesex Community College; Jim Carnevale of Raytheon, chair of the MV Chamber Education Committee; and Lane Glenn, president, Northern Essex Community College.

Local community college presidents, Lane Glenn of Northern Essex Community College and James Mabry of Middlesex, have a lot in common with the students who attend their colleges.

Glenn attended Rose State College, an Oklahoma community college before completing his bachelor’s degree at Northeastern State University, also in Oklahoma, and Mabry, like many community college students, didn’t get a serious start on his college education until he was 26.

Both went on to earn PhD’s and become presidents, and believe their own experiences have made them better prepared to lead their respective institutions.

The two were the featured speakers at the Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce’s Education Conference titled “A Conversation with the Presidents” which was held on Thursday, Oct. 10, at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Andover.

Jim Carnevale of Raytheon, chair of the chamber’s education committee and moderator of the conversation, asked a series of questions about workforce development and the community college mission.

Community colleges, according to Mabry, educate more than half of the students currently enrolled in public higher education in the United States. “Our students are intensely local, living within five miles of our campuses. When you invest in public higher education, you’re investing in the core of your workforce. These are the people who are going to stay here and be critical to the success of this economy.”

A third of Northern Essex Community College students are enrolled in health care programs, said Glenn, and almost as many are in STEM programs preparing for high demand careers in science, technology, engineering, and math. The college also provides corporate training, providing local employers with the training needed to grow the skills of their workforce.

Glenn is proud of the college’s police academy and is looking forward to the college’s new culinary and hospitality program, which will open at The Heights on Merrimack Street in Haverhill this coming year.

Middlesex has a new clean lab for its life science program, a new performing arts center with a 140-seat theater, and a cyber-security program, which leads to careers for associate degree graduates.

In closing Carnevale asked each president what advice they would have for a young person interested in success.

“You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take,” said Glenn. “You have to be in the game. Get a goal and work toward it and don’t think you have to do it alone.”

President Mabry referred to his own late start in higher education which he believes gave him an edge. “I had learned how to work hard and take care of myself. This was critical in my success in raising my game.” He also said he would tell students ‘you don’t have to do this alone.’ “At Middlesex, we find students the resources they need to succeed.”