NECC Observer

The student news website of Northern Essex Community College, Haverhill and Lawrence, Mass.


Spotlight

“Hurricane Diane” competes at festival, will return to NECC

The spring semester started with a bang for Northern Essex Community College theater students and professor Brianne Beatrice. They went right back into the theater to start re-rehearsing last spring’s production, Hurricane Diane.Beatrice learned just before the holiday break that representatives from the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival (KCACTF) selected the production as a finalist for the Region 1 Festival, taking place from Jan. 30 to Feb. 3. Regardless of the outcome, it won’t…

read more

The idea of NECC: How current, former students and parents of students see the college

Situated in Haverhill and Lawrence, Massachusetts, Northern Essex Community College may be considered one of the top community colleges within Massachusetts when it comes to athletics and academics, but it may owe this spectacle to the positive reception it handles from their student body, past or present, and the figures that help shape their budding community.  One key factor that may highlight the reception behind Northern Essex is the comfortability of proximity, as stated by Nellysha Martinez, a current Art & Design student at NECC from Lawrence, Massachusetts.  “The greatest appeal of NECC that I found was how close it was to home,” stated Martinez. “The Lawrence campus was the closest to me, but, ironically, I ended up taking my first classes at the Haverhill campus and being split between both campuses.” Martinez also commented on how the addition of free public transportation, such as the MVRTA buses, are essential in their continuation to further learn at NECC.  Another positive factor to showcase regarding NECC is their affordability, especially for students who transfer into the institution due to financial burdens at previous colleges and universities. Haverhill’s Jason Almanzar, a 2017 graduate of NECC who originally attended Providence College, cited NECC…

read more

Internships offer real-life experiences

Northern Essex Community College offers students the opportunity to do college internships on campus or off-site.  The plus about students doing internships in general is that they have the opportunity to earn real-life experiences and apply all the knowledge that they learn during their internship to their future jobs. Internships are a valuable experience for college students ready to enter the work field.  After completing  a degree programs that ready them academically, the Internship is a hands-on work experience that prepares them for the real world. Talking to faculty who have been involved in internship courses, they claim students learn all the steps that students need, in order to do an internship on or off campus. Some students may struggle to find their internship, while others find an internship quickly. It all depends on what type of internship they are looking for. Sandy Rochon, a faculty member at NECC, has been working there for almost two years. Rochon works in the Career Services Department. She is one of the people in charge of helping students find a good internship that fills their needs.  Rochon stated, “I recommend students do an internship because it will provide students with real-life experience.  Students…

read more

News Bytes

'Passing Spirits' on Haverhill campus

3D abstract artwork from the exhibit on display at NECC.

As many students know, there is often an art exhibit set up in the back of the library, also known as the Linda Hummel-Shea Artspace. This time around the exhibit on display is one known as Passing Spirits by Maria L. Denjongpa of Beverly.  When asked about Passing Spirits and…

read more

NECC athletics hall of fame inductees announced

On Jan 25 Northern Essex announced the representatives for the 2024 hall of fame class. The inductees include Larry Fowle, Colby Maiola and Sercan Fenerci. The three former athletics members will be inducted on March 20.  This will be the fifth annual induction ceremony at NECC.  The ceremony will be held…

read more

Basketball team near perfection this season

The Northern Essex Community College men’s basketball team got off to a ferocious start, winning its first 14 games with a mighty points-per-game average of 89.1 and a strong field goal percentage of 45.1%. The team unfortunately fell to Westchester Community College by only a four-point deficit, but they immediately…

read more

Baseball team hits a home run: Knights ranked third in national standings

Unexpectedly, the Northern Essex Community College (NECC) baseball team has achieved unprecedented success, advancing to the third place in the country.  Players and advisers are thrilled with the team’s incredible ascent to the top, which has created a historic moment for the college’s sports department.  Head Coach Jeff Mejia expressed…

read more

How women dominated the 2024 Grammys: Are awards shows finally moving in a new direction?

Three women standing holding Grammy award trophies

Award season is in full swing, an exciting time for enjoyers of all things entertainment. The 66th Annual Grammy Awards were held on Sunday, February 4th, and proved to be an important night in the music world.  Of all discourse surrounding the award show, one of the most prevalent topics…

read more

Tabletop Game Club

NECC Tabletop Game club has been meeting once a week at 4:30 p.m. at the Knights Nook in the SC Building of the Haverhill Campus for years to allow students to gather around and have fun working together or participating in friendly competition over some fun games of their choice.…

read more

Featured Articles

Thinking globally: Courses connect with students abroad Two girls are looking at the camera for a selfie picture

NECC students are connected with international peers virtually to team up on projects together. There are around seven courses with a special component, the International Virtual Experience IVE and Collaborative Online International Learning COIL where NECC students are paired with students at universities from Canada, France, Mexico or Palestine, to work as a team on an assigned project. NECC students, the same as their international peers, consider these courses as highly valuable and open-door to thinking globally. Learning globally from class Courses like Physiological Chemistry and Anatomy and Physiology are required courses for most AS programs in Health Sciences. Professor Emily Gonzalez is the leader of both. She is leading this spring her third cohort of NECC students in a project with UIT Cachan of…

read more

Holiday spirit: "A Christmas Carol" returns to NECC A standing man talks to a man sitting at a desk in a scene from "A Christmas Carol."

“A Christmas Carol,” the classic season story is back in NECC Theater on Dec 8, 9 and 10. “Every year (it) puts me in the Christmas mood. The carols and theme. So, I love it. It’s so difficult sometimes to get into that mood of holidays and it just does it in 90 minutes,” assured J. Mark Morrison, who plays Ebenezer Scrooge, the main character of Charles Dickens’s novel. When: Dec. 8 at 7:00 p.m. / Dec. 9 at 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. / Dec. 10 at 3:00 p.m. Where: Chester Hawrylciw Theater, on the third floor of the C-Spurk Building on the Haverhill Campus,  100 Elliott St. “A Christmas Carol” a story written by Dickens in 1843 tell us the story of Scrooge,…

read more

Professors and staff speak out about 'fair pay' Faculty members hold signs calling for Fair Pay for Educators

Professors and staff are under “Work to Rule,” as of press time for the Observer, on Tuesday, Nov. 14.  They say they are protesting being underpaid, not receiving a raise since 2021 and currently working without a contract. Faculty and staff members of the Massachusetts Community College Council – MCCC Union held signs that read “Work to Rule” on Nov. 1 at President Lane Glenn’s  pizza meeting, in front of the TC building at the Haverhill campus. A similar group stood under the rain, in front of the Dimitry building on the Lawrence campus on Nov. 9.  What is Work to Rule Faculty and staff members of the MCCC Union are not allowed to strike.  “We are stuck. All we can do is Work to…

read more

Search


Upcoming Events