2019 - Page 7 of 24

NECC Homecoming to Take Place on October 5, 2019

September 24, 2019/in Archive/by scomiskey

The NECC Homecoming will take place on October 5.

Northern Essex Community College invites the general public, as well as members of the college community, to attend its Third Annual Homecoming, which will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, October 5, 2019, at the college’s Haverhill Campus, 100 Elliott Street.

This year’s event will feature a range of fun activities for people of all ages. Highlights include lawn games, a touch-a-truck event for children, a pie-eating contest, school gear sales, and a beer garden, courtesy of Newburyport Brewing, for 21+ adults with valid IDs.

Chemistry Professor Mike Cross will also be on campus with “Magic and Mysteries,” an interactive presentation that will explore the overlap between science and illusion. He will have signed copies of his debut children’s book, “Francesca and the Genie of Science,” available for sale. All proceeds from the book will benefit the NECC Fund, which provides critical support for scholarships and academic programs on campus.

Food from NECC’s Newbury Café will be on site for purchase throughout the event.

In conjunction with Homecoming activities, the campus is also set to host several athletic competitions, including an alumni baseball game at 10 a.m., NECC volleyball versus Massasoit Community College at 12 p.m., and NECC men’s soccer versus MassBay Community College at 1 p.m.

Prior to the main event, NECC will also hold its Seventh Annual Campus Classic 5K, which will begin promptly at 10 a.m. and wind around the Haverhill campus and surrounding neighborhoods. Those who wish to participate for the 5K can pre-register online or sign up on-site on race day.

Homecoming serves as a great opportunity for prospective and current students, as well as alumni and friends of NECC, to reconnect with their peers and professors, explore NECC’s latest offerings, and enjoy a range of fall festivities. For more information, please visit the Homecoming page.

Cesar Chavez’s Grandson Brings Film to NECC’s Lawrence Campus

September 24, 2019/in Archive/by Ellen Small-Davis

Eduardo Chavez, grandson of Cesar Chavez, will present his film “Hail Cesar” on Thursday, Oct. 3, on the Lawrence campus.

“Hailing César”, a documentary directed by and featuring Eduardo Chavez, the grandson of civil rights activist Cesar Chavez, will be shown on Thursday, Oct. 3, 2019, at 6 p.m. in NECC’s Louise Haffner Fournier Education Center, 78 Amesbury St., Lawrence. Chavez will discuss the film following the showing.

This showing, which is one of the events planned for Northern Essex’s Hispanic Heritage Month celebration, is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by the White Fund in partnership with Northern Essex Community College.

The younger Chavez, who was born in 1991, did not know his famous grandfather who died in 1993. The film captures his journey to connect with his grandfather’s legacy. He begins work as a farm-worker, picking grapes in the field, like his father and grandfather before him, and learns first-hand the kind of work that goes into putting fruits and vegetables on people’s plates. Through his personal journey, as he reconnects with his family’s legacy, we learn about Ceasar Chavez’s plight to create equality for farm-workers as well as the current conditions that they face in the fields and back at home.

While his paternal grandfather was Cesar Chavez, his maternal grandfather was Cuban revolutionary Max Lesnik. He attended Loyola Marymount University on a golf scholarship and played professional golf following college. He is currently a working actor in Los Angeles and recently premiered his first film, “Hailing Cesar”. His goal is to bring depth to the portrayal of Latino characters in film, television and other media. He is also the co- founder of Latindia Studios.

For more information, contact Analuz Garcia at agarcia@necc.mass.edu

Additional information on the film can be found at here.

To learn more about NECC’s Hispanic heritage Month celebration visit here.

The White Fund’s purpose is to have a free series of interactive presentations for Lawrence area adults, youth, and children. The audience is encouraged to seek wisdom, cultural enrichment, and intellectual enhancement by attending and participating.

The views expressed in the White Fund Enlightenment Series Presentations are the views of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of Northern Essex Community College.

Funded by a generous financial gift from the Honorable Daniel Appleton White, the White Fund Lecture Series has provided cultural conversation featuring well-known lecturers in fields such as history, literature, travel, the arts, and politics. The White Fund is collaborating with Northern Essex on this series.

For additional information or to be notified of upcoming events in the White Fund Enlightenment Series, contact Garcia at agarcia@necc.mass.edu or call 978-738-7423 or visit the website

Harvard’s Lawrence H. Summers to Speak at NECC

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

Portrait of Harvard President Emeritus Lawrence H. Summers

Lawrence H. Summers is the Charles W. Eliot University Professor and President Emeritus at Harvard University.

Lawrence H. Summers, former Harvard University president and secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury in the Clinton Administration, and Director of the National Economic Council in the Obama Administration, will speak to students, faculty and the Northern Essex Community College community on Wednesday, Oct. 2, at 11 a.m. in the Pentucket Bank Lecture Hall A, on the Haverhill campus, 100 Elliott St.

This event is free and open to the public. It is being organized and facilitated by NECC History Professor Rich Padova.

President emeritus of Harvard University, Summers’ tenure at the U.S. Treasury coincided with the longest period of sustained economic growth in U.S. history. Summers has played a key role in addressing every major financial crisis for the last two decades. During the 1990s, he was a leader in crafting the U.S. response to international financial crises arising in Mexico, Brazil, Russia, Japan, and Asian emerging markets. As one of President Obama’s chief economic advisors, Dr. Summers’ thinking helped shape the U.S. response to the 2008 financial crisis, to the failure of the automobile industry, and to the pressures on the European monetary system.

Summers will discuss the current economic issues of the day. His talk will be followed by an informal pizza luncheon with students.

Summers received a bachelor of science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1975 and was awarded a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1982.

He is currently the Charles W. Eliot University Professor at Harvard University, where he became a full professor at age 28. President Bill Clinton said that Summers “has the rare ability to see the world that is taking shape and the skill to help to bring it into being.” He has been recognized as one of the world’s most influential thinkers by Time, Foreign Policy, Prospect and The Economist magazines among many others.

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

NECC Alumna to Visit “Home” With her Book

September 19, 2019/in Archive/by pattygosselin

Special feature courtesy of the Observer, NECC’s award-winning student newspaper

by: Patty Gosselin, Journalism and Communications major

Diannely Antigua is smiling with her head tilted back and eyes closed

Diannely Antigua NECC alumna returns for a special reading from her book “Ugly Music.”

Northern Essex Community College will host published poet and NECC alumna Diannely Antigua on October 9, 2019 in Lecture Hall A in Spurk at 2 p.m. to give an exclusive reading and discussion of her poetry book “Ugly Music.”

Antigua, a Dominican American woman raised in Haverhill in “a very sheltered environment” she says, enrolled at NECC when she was only 16 years old. From her humble beginnings at a non-accredited church school in Haverhill, her growth at NECC led her to be named the commencement speaker in 2009 when she graduated with an associate degree in liberal arts. Her experience as commencement speaker, along with the public speaking class she took here at NECC prepared her for many of the public speaking events and readings she does now as a published poet.

Antigua credits Northern Essex with “raising her” she says: “I met the professors along the way that were really helpful, also the classes that I decided to take just really helped lay the foundation for classes that I would take later on at UMass Lowell and NYU.” One professor she had here at NECC served the role of being her writing mentor. Robert Jackson, who is still in her life 13 years later has been so helpful to Antigua with everything from reading her writing samples to helping her apply to grad schools.

She was involved with Parnassus, NECC’s own literary magazine and she currently continues to submit her poems to literary magazines regularly. She even landed the role of associate poetry editor at a magazine called BOAAT, a position she had to step down from to give more attention to her book “Ugly Music.”

Her book she’ll be reading from at the NECC event “Ugly Music” was published in May earlier this year and deals with subjects like immigration, mental illness and sexual assault. Antigua, a survivor of sexual assault at the age of only 11 years old says she doesn’t want to shy away from talking about those subjects and uses her platform as a way to heal from her trauma, and to help others who may be dealing with similar situations. “I think there’s very few people that haven’t been affected by one or both of those topics,” she says. She also attends weekly therapy sessions.

“One of the lessons I learned as a girl was to keep those things quiet. We’re seeing that now as people are speaking up through the ‘me too movement’. They’re just now being able to voice their trauma. This was kind of my own way of having my own ‘me too moment’, which was my book,” she says.

Antigua also masters the art of melding her experience with these sensitive subjects and the mundane. In her poem “Re-Education” she gives a special shout-out to a Haverhill burrito hot-spot Tacos Lupita, but also talks about Plan B. “I have a lot of epiphanies while doing very mundane things in life, it’s always been that way. I’ve always very much appreciated the mundane,” she says.

The growth of Antigua’s poetry career sparked when she was published for the first time in UMass Lowell’s literary magazine. Later, she was accepted into the master’s program at NYU for creative writing. “To this day I’m still very much surprised that I got into that program” she says about NYU. She was still working on her thesis when her friend encouraged her to submit her book for the Pamet River Prize which came with a publication. She ended up winning that prize and was published by YesYes Books in May of 2019.

Antigua offers advice to anyone who wishes to pursue their passion who might need encouragement: just show up and continue to show up even when you feel like you don’t have anything to give to your craft, she says. “I think sometimes we can get recognition from outside of ourselves and that feels great, but I think it’s important to recognize for yourself and be proud of the work that you’ve done. And then being able to recognize the work that you’ve done, allows you to come back to that work again and say ‘well I’ve done this so far and I can keep going,’” she says.

As far as coming back to the Haverhill campus at NECC, Antigua remembers a time when the Newbury Café in Spurk was called “Jitters” and she would spend hours writing there and meeting with her writing mentor. She says, “The simple act of being back on campus, I think will be magical because it’s definitely a home for me in many ways. It’s kind of like coming home after being on a long journey and talking to your family about all the things you did while you were gone.”

NECC to Host Transfer Day

September 19, 2019/in Archive/by pattygosselin

Graphic of Knight mascot wearing transfer tshirts.

The NECC Knight knows there are many transfer options. Here are a few favorites.

If you are a Northern Essex Community College student who is interested in transferring to a four-year college or university, then you will want to attend one of the two upcoming Transfer Day events.

Some 35 schools will participate in Transfer Day on both the Haverhill and Lawrence campuses. The events will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2019, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Hartleb Technology Center, 100 Elliott St., Haverhill, and Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Atrium of the Dimitry Building, 45 Franklin St., Lawrence.

Representatives from state universities from Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine as well as private institutions, such as Simmons College, Suffolk University, University of New Hampshire, Merrimack College, and Southern New Hampshire University will attend.

Transfer Day is a great opportunity to plan early, and for students to check in and make sure they are taking the appropriate courses they will need to transfer once they graduate. Students are invited to speak with representatives from the schools and gather materials from their tables. Students are encouraged to bring an unofficial copy of their transcript for on-the spot-admissions or just to discuss their status as a transfer student.

These events are open to students and any community members who are interested in talking with representatives from public and private colleges from across New England. Get information on program offerings, transfer requirements, financial aid, scholarships and more.

For more information about either of these Transfer Day events, please call the Director of Transfer, Articulation and Academic Center Advising at 978-556-3719 or email her at msunday@necc.mass.edu.

Learn Public Speaking from a Stand-Up Comedian

September 18, 2019/in Archive/by pattygosselin

Dave Rattigan smiles with a mic stand in his hand

Dave Rattigan professional stand-up comedian

Want to learn how to be a better presenter?

Dave Rattigan, professional stand-up comedian and adjunct faculty member at Northern Essex Community College, will give a presentation titled “Facing Your Fear: Public Speaking” on October 7, 2019 at 6 p.m. at the Somebody Cares New England, 358 Washington Street in Haverhill. This presentation is presented by the Mount Washington Alliance and is free and open to the public.

Rattigan, a former Boston Globe and People Magazine correspondent, used to be a fearful public speaker. Motivated by a life-long desire to do stand-up comedy, he conquered that fear and has gone on to perform for crowds as large as 2,300 at the Cape Cod Melody Tent and as small as three people at a Lexington restaurant. For nearly two decades, he’s specialized in making better speakers out of those who are nervous, not nervous enough, fearful or cluelessly courageous. This interactive presentation focuses on facing your fear, seeing yourself as others see you, and simple steps to give a better presentation at work or socially.

As an adjunct faculty member at Northern Essex and UMass Lowell, Rattigan teaches public speaking, interpersonal communications, and professional communications.

This presentation is offered through the Northern Essex Community College Speakers Bureau. For additional information on the NECC Speakers Bureau, please visit the Speakers Bureau website or contact speakersbureau@necc.mass.edu or at 978-556-3862. For information on this presentation, contact Taisha Madero, tmadero@communityaction.inc.org or 978-912-0897.

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 NECC website or call 978-556-3700.

NECC Dean to Talk About Media Literacy at Beverly Public Library

September 18, 2019/in Archive/by pattygosselin

Dean of Liberal Arts Amy Callahan

Amy Callahan, interim dean of liberal arts at Northern Essex Community, will give a presentation on “Propaganda, Media Literacy and Democracy” for the ‘Monday Mornings’ program series at Beverly Public Library, 32 Essex Street, on October 7, 2019 at 9:30 a.m. The program is free and open to the public.

Signs point to a bleak picture in media literacy today: there’s a documented inability of young people to understand the online media they consume, says Callahan. This talk will explore the many efforts in education and journalism to increase the media literacy skills so vital to democracy. Callahan will also examine the challenges facing this endeavor. Professor Amy Callahan has studied this issue from many angles, as a former journalist, public relations professional, and media literacy education scholar. She had an article on media literacy published in Education Week.

Prior to being named interim dean of liberal arts in June of 2019, Callahan was a professor in the English Department and the coordinator of the Journalism/Communication Program at Northern Essex Community College. Before joining the NECC faculty in 2000, she worked for more than ten years as a journalist and editor, including writing for the Boston Globe, the Holyoke Transcript-telegram, and the Vineyard Gazette, where she received honors from the New England Press Association. She is also the former managing editor of the Columbia University Record, published by Columbia University’s Office of Public Affairs in New York City. She holds an M.F.A. in writing from Columbia University and a B.A. in journalism from Northeastern University.

This presentation is offered through the Northern Essex Community College Speakers Bureau. For additional information on the NECC Speakers Bureau, please visit the Speakers Bureau website or contact speakersbureau@necc.mass.edu or at 978-556-3862.

For more information on the presentation at Beverly Public Library, contact Ona, ridenour@noblenet.org or call 978-921-6062.

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 NECC website or call 978-556-3700.

NECC Names Manager of Culinary and Hospitality Programs

September 17, 2019/in Archive/by Ernie Greenslade

Denis Boucher is the newly appointed program manager of NECC’s culinary and hospitality programs

As the newly appointed program manager of Northern Essex Community College’s culinary and hospitality programs, Denis Boucher is very interested in the progress being made on “The Heights”, a 10-story luxury building under construction on Merrimack St. in downtown Haverhill.

That’s because The Heights will include two floors dedicated to Northern Essex’s culinary and hospitality programs, and Boucher has been hired to monitor the construction as well as build noncredit and credit programs in these two growing fields.

The college currently offers an Associate of Science in Hospitality Management and is planning to offer a Culinary Arts Certificate Program, likely by the fall of 2020.

With extensive experience as a chef, restaurant manager, and culinary educator, Boucher is well qualified for the responsibilities of his new role.

As director of Tompkins Cortland Community College’s Coltivare in Ithaca, NY, he oversaw a similar project, successfully developing a sustainable culinary lab, restaurant, and event space.

“Denis’s background makes him uniquely qualified for this position,” said Lane Glenn, president of Northern Essex. “I’ve been to Coltivare and I was so impressed. I can’t wait to see what he can do in downtown Haverhill.”

The college’s two floors will include classrooms, laboratories, and a teaching kitchen where credit courses and noncredit courses will be taught. While the college won’t run its own restaurant, it will work closely with the full-service restaurant that will be located on the first floor of the building.

Born and raised in southern Maine, Boucher earned an associate degree from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY, and a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management from Florida International University in Miami.

He spent 20-plus years as a chef and restaurant manager in Atlanta, Colorado, Miami, North Carolina, Maine, and Antarctica, where he served as a chef at the South Pole and Palmer scientific research stations. He taught at the New England Culinary Institute (NECI) in Montpelier Vermont from 2005 to 2014, receiving “Teacher of the Year” in 2006, and managed the institute’s restaurant for some of that time.

While his focus is now management and teaching, Boucher still enjoys cooking for family and friends, especially during the holidays. “I love the farm to table and sustainability movement,” he says. “I love visiting farmers markets, like the one in downtown Haverhill, and picking up everything that’s fresh.”

To learn more, contact Boucher at dboucher@necc.mass.edu or 978 556-3201.

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 www.necc.mass.edu or call 978-556-3700.

NECC Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month, September 18 to October 10

September 17, 2019/in Archive/by Ernie Greenslade

Eduardo Chavez, grandson of Cesar Chavez, directed a documentary about his grandfather that will be shown at NECC on Oct. 3.

Northern Essex Community College is proud to have been named the first Hispanic-Serving Institution in Massachusetts by the U.S. Department of Education in 2001 and to have a student population that is 43% Hispanic.

From September 18 to October 10, 2019, the college will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with a series of events, all of which are free and open to the public.

The celebration will highlight the cultures and contributions of American citizens who came from—or whose ancestors came from—Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.

There will be cultural conversations, a walking tour focused on Lawrence’s immigrant history, led by Northern Essex Professor Rich Padova; a poetry reading by the talented Dominican American poet, Diannely Antigua, who is a graduate of Northern Essex; a showing of the movie “Hailing Cesar” presented by the director, Cesar Chavez’s grandson, Eduardo Chavez, and more.

To learn more contact, Analuz Garcia, assistant director of community & international relations, agarcia@necc.mass.edu or 978 738-7423.

Here’s a list of selected events:

Discussion: The Media is Uncultured

Wed, Sept. 18, 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

Center for Liberal Arts, Spurk Building, Room 209, Haverhill Campus, 100 Elliott St

Join Journalism/Communication student Jocelyn Avila-Frias for a cultural discussion.

For more information, contact Dean Amy Callahan, acallahan@necc.mass.edu, 978 556-3397

Lawrence Walking Tour: Immigration: The Fabric that Holds Lawrence Together

Wed, Sept. 25, 3 to 4:30 p.m.

Meet in the lobby of the El-Hefni Allied Health & Technology Center, 414 Common St, Lawrence

Rich Padova, an instructor in the Global Studies Department and a summer historical tour interpreter at Lawrence Heritage State Park, will lead a short walking tour in Lawrence’s historic mill district along with a visit to the museum at Lawrence Heritage Park. Rain or shine.

To register or for more information, contact Sharon McManus, smcmanus@necc.mass.edu, 978 556-3960

LatinX Networking Event

Monday, Sept. 30, 5:30 to 7 p.m.

NECC El Hefni Allied Health & Technology Center, Room 301, 414 Common St., Lawrence

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with Latinx professionals in education. Space is limited, so please register.

To register or for more information, contact Thomas A. Ortiz Jr, Enrollment Services, tortiz@necc.mass.edu

White Fund Lecture Presented by NECC: Documentary Film “Hailing Cesar”

Thur, Oct. 3, 6 p.m.

NECC’s Louise Haffner Education Center, 78 Amesbury St.,Lawrence

Director Eduardo Chavez, grandson to civil rights activist Cesar Chavez, will be in Lawrence to introduce this film in which he embarks on a journey to connect with his grandfather’s legacy. He begins work as a farm-worker, picking grapes in the field, like his father and grandfather before him, and learns first- hand the kind of work that goes into putting fruits and vegetables on people’s plates. Through his personal journey, as he reconnects with his families’ legacy, we learn about Ceasar Chavez’s plight to create equality for farm-workers as well as the current conditions that they face in the fields and back at home.

For more information, contact Analuz Garcia, agarcia@necc.mass.edu, 978 738-7423

Poet Diannely Antigua is in the forefront of a photograph taken on a busy city street.

Dominican American poet Diannely Antigua will give a reading at NECC on Oct. 9.

Poetry Reading: Diannely Antigua

Wed, Oct. 9, 2 p.m.

Pentucket Bank Lecture Hall, Spurk Building, Haverhill Campus, 100 Elliott St

Diannely Antigua, a Dominican American poet and educator, who was born and raised in Haverhill, MA, has been receiving critical acclaim for her debut poetry collection “Ugly Music” which was published this year by YesYes Books. Antigua holds an Associate Degree in Liberal Arts: Writing from NECC, a Bachelor of Arts in English from UMass Lowell, and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from New York University (NYU). Her work has appeared in numerous publications, including “Washington Square Review,” “Bennington Review”, and “The Adroit Journal”. She is the recipient of several fellowships and a nominee for the Pushcart Prize and the Best of the Net.

For more information, contact Professor Trish Portanova, pportanova@necc.mass.edu, 978 556-3379

Lunch & Learn: Entrepreneurship for All/EforAll/Epara Todos

Thur, Oct 10, 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

Center for Business and Accounting, Spurk Building, Room 201, Haverhill Campus, 100 Elliott St.

NECC’s Center for Business and Accounting hosts Andres Silva, program manager for Entrepreneurship for All-Epara Todos. Silva will share how his organization can help empower the Spanish-speaking entrepreneurial community.

For more information, contact Professor Sheila Muller, smuller@necc.mass.edu, 978 556-3342

NECC Holds Open House

September 16, 2019/in Archive/by Ellen Small-Davis

Northern Essex Community College will hold an open house on Saturday, October 5, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the Haverhill campus, 100 Elliot St., starting outside the Sport & Fitness Center.

Individuals interested in learning more about NECC’s academic programs, admissions process, or possible financial aid options, are invited to attend.

Northern Essex offers over 60 academic programs leading to associate degrees and certificates in areas such as healthcare, business, engineering, computer science, criminal justice, liberal arts, and much more. Courses and programs are offered days, evenings, weekends, and online.

“If someone has been thinking about enrolling in college, this is a great opportunity to get an overview of what Northern Essex has to offer,” said Danny Richer, NECC’s director of recruitment and admissions.

Tours of the campus will be available and those interested can apply to Northern Essex on the spot. Bring along a friend or family members.

Northern Essex will host its homecoming that same day, and all are invited to participate. There will be food, entertainment, games, sports, and children’s activities. The NECC Campus Classic 5Krace will be held earlier that day at 9 a.m.

For additional information contact enrollment services at 978-556-3700 or admissions@necc.mass.edu