{"id":23223,"date":"2023-08-28T18:42:28","date_gmt":"2023-08-28T22:42:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2023\/08\/28\/the-stories-of-us-a-new-perspective-inside-the-classroom\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T11:34:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T15:34:17","slug":"the-stories-of-us-a-new-perspective-inside-the-classroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2023\/08\/28\/the-stories-of-us-a-new-perspective-inside-the-classroom\/","title":{"rendered":"The Stories of Us: A New Perspective Inside the Classroom"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>This article is part of a new, regular series called \u201cThe Stories of Us,\u201d highlighting the justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion work of Northern Essex Community College students, faculty, and staff.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Brian MacKenna-Rice and Lisa Fabbri-Lopez have helped people from all walks of life in their work with individuals in crises and recovery. As they\u2019ve developed <a href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/academics\/credit-programs\/human-services\/human-services-associate-degree\/\">Human Services<\/a> courses at Northern Essex Community College, they\u2019ve been mindful of ensuring different perspectives are represented.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe work in a field where this is an underpinning of what we do,\u201d says the <a href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/academics\/credit-programs\/human-services\/human-services-associate-degree\/\">Human Services Program<\/a> Coordinator MacKenna-Rice.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_27096\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/Brian-and-Lisa.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-27096\" class=\" wp-image-27096\" src=\"http:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/Brian-and-Lisa.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-27096\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Brian MacKenna-Rice and Lisa Fabbri-Lopez<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Both recognize there\u2019s always more work to be done regarding justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) in the classroom. Recently, they attended a workshop hosted at Salem State University called <a href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/salemstate\/docs\/anti-racist_community-engaged_principles_09_21_web\">Principles for Anti-Racist Community-Engaged Pedagogy<\/a>. Over two days, they explored topics about developing more inclusive course materials, reflecting on individual and systemic racism, and creating compassionate and reflective classrooms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI loved meeting them,\u201d MacKenna-Rice says of the other workshop attendees. \u2018They were a lot younger than me and a lot smarter than me. And I enjoyed that. It was a nice two days.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe represents a generation that is not always deemed as being open to this,\u201d adds Fabbri-Lopez, a Human Services faculty member and co-lead of the <a href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/current-students\/academic-centers\/center-for-professional-studies\/\">NECC Center for Professional Studies<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m old enough that I remember Selma. And I remember the Birmingham bombings, and I remember the Civil Rights March. People being struck down with Billie clubs just because of their skin color,\u201d recalls MacKenna-Rice from his teenage years. \u201cFor me, you can\u2019t do enough to help people understand how unjust that is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>MacKenna-Rice and Fabbri-Lopez say the workshop helped them build upon their personal and professional experiences to ensure that courses are accessible and equitable. One example of this work, says MacKenna-Rice, is using course materials representing the student population. \u201cI added a unit on BIPOC contributions and influence on what we do. We\u2019re trying to get people involved in a field that\u2019s about helping people. And we can\u2019t do that if we can\u2019t represent all people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This fall semester, they hope a change in class location will also increase accessibility and equity.\u00a0All 100-level Human Services courses will be taught on the Lawrence Campus, and 200-level classes will be held on the Haverhill Campus. \u201cThen next year, we\u2019ll switch that around. So philosophically, a student could do all the core courses entirely in Lawrence or Haverhill. This is equity. Everyone has the same opportunity because they have the same starting point,\u201d says MacKenna-Rice.<\/p>\n<p>More changes are in the works, such as utilizing Spanish-language resources and developing a new certificate program. In the meantime, the pair plans to work closely with NECC Chief Officer of JEDI Francellis Quin\u0303ones and the NECC Center for Equity and Social Justice to identify more professional development opportunities in the JEDI space.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe work out in the field. And we learn that anybody can talk about this, but this is about behavior and what are you doing about it?\u201d reflects MacKenna-Rice. \u201cLet\u2019s not just pretend it\u2019s a philosophy book. Let\u2019s understand it\u2019s about life and human beings.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This article is part of a new, regular series called \u201cThe Stories of Us,\u201d highlighting the justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion work of Northern Essex Community College students, faculty, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":25757,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[13,18],"tags":[307,321,566,585],"class_list":["post-23223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty-and-staff","category-spotlight","tag-hispanic-serving-institution-hsi","tag-human-services","tag-stories-of-us","tag-students"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Stories of Us: A New Perspective Inside the Classroom - 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