Monthly Archives: November 2014

Features

Market Basket Symposium: NECC professors on the context of protest in America

 

The Market Basket Symposium took place on Friday, Oct. 24 from noon 1:30 p.m. at the Hartleb technology center. There were four guest speakers: Stephen Russell, Stephen Slaner, Chris Mackin and Crystal Pringle who spoke about different issues regarding the Bread and Roses strike, the Occupy movement, and strikes that took place over the summer at Market Basket.

First to speak was Professor Stephen Russell, who gave his insight on the Bread and Roses strike. It took place in Lawrence during the peak of the United States textile industry during the early 1900s. “Throughout the history of Lawrence you see a general trend to make people work harder for less money, because the textile industries were very competitive and the places where the owners would find the most opportunity to cut costs was of course in labor,” said Russell.

In 1882, the strike took place within the Pacific mills. Mostly women were rebelling against having to tend to more machines for even less money. “In the end the strike did not work out that well, but it did have an important effect in creating this idea that there could be a strike, and second getting the members of the women who worked in the mills to understand that they were a community and that together they could take some direct action,” said Russell.

The theme of the symposium is just that: communities taking direct action in order to influence change in the treatment of those who work hard for too little, and to  inspire change to those who did not believe it possible to as a community take immediate and direct action.

The next speaker was Professor Stephen Slaner, on the Occupy movement. The Occupy movement began in 2011 in New York City in Zucotti Park. Among the Occupiers’ central concerns were the unequal distribution of wealth in the United States, and the New York protests inspired a global movement.

“On a personal note I first heard about occupy when a student of mine informed that she would have to miss class because she was going to a demonstration in New York City,” Slaner said. “The demonstration was called by a counter cultural magazine. It quickly turned into an encampment and became known as Occupy Wall Street. As it spread to other cities in the U.S., including Boston, and then around the world, it was possible to go to an encampment and see what was going on.”

Slaner has first hand experience, as he visited one of the protests. “I went to the Boston encampment along with some students from NECC we saw various tents, a library, a clothes tent, a medical tent, a kitchen, even a spiritual tent. Some people lived in the tents while others walked around the space.”

“It really seemed as though we were in a time warp, and had been transported back to the 60s, like something out of a science fiction novel. It was really like the 60s had come back. The movement was directed against what the movement called the 1 percent, and for the rest of us, the 99 percent, and that slogan really caught on. The background of course the financial crisis, and the bailout of the banks.

“One of the slogans was ‘banks got bailed out, we got sold out.’ It seemed as though capitalism was finally breaking down or at least in serious trouble and the occupy movement represented and alternative in some sense. Secondly, there were supposed to be no leaders. In the general assembly common to all encampments, anyone could speak and because of the restrictions on sound systems, there was a mic check and the audience would repeat the speakers’ remarks,” said Slaner.

“The focus was not on specific position so much as the expression of a generalized discontent, with the injustice and inequality of the present system. The physical and social arrangements of the encampments were meant to serve as a model for the kind of society that the protesters were speaking with the slogan ‘be the change you’re working for.’ Of the various definitions of occupy in the dictionary the closest one might be ‘enter, take control of, and stay in the building illegally and often forcibly especially as a form of protest,’” said Slaner.

What does this have to do with Market Basket? Well, the same principles apply, the idea of a community banding together to influence and inspire change over a social, economic, and even consumer injustice for both employees and customers is what took hold over the summer of 2014. The movement of the Market Basket strikes did not stop with outrages employees but took hold with the loyal customers too.

Chris Mackin, who identifies himself as an observer of Market Basket, got involved as a part time academic teacher who writes about workplace issues, his primary work is in the field of employee ownership; he helps people start businesses. Mackin’s involvement in the Market Basket strike began on July 17 when he picked up the Boston Globe in Cambridge and read that the senior management of Market Basket were threatening to walk out of their jobs if their demand to restore Arthur T. Demoulas as CEO was not met. “It seemed to me to merit getting in the car and seeing this in person. I did that, and came up to an almost empty parking lot at the Tewksbury headquarters of Market Basket. Sure enough at 4:30 p.m. about eight or 10 men in white shirts and ties marched out of the headquarters of Market Basket, looking relieved, looking proud, looking a little confused not quite knowing what the next step was. There were a smattering of people around there, reporters and myself that talked to them, asked them what this was all about.” Said Mackin.

What transpired next was the start of a lengthy strike to restore Arthur T. Demoulas as CEO. “The next morning at 11 a.m., 2000 people were in the parking lot of the Tewksbury Headquarters. In the beginning what were three major protests, and the world woke up and the country began to pay attention to what was going on here in northern Massachusetts,” said Mackin.

The Market Basket strikes share multiple characteristics of the Bread and Roses strikes in Lawrence as well as the Occupy movement but also is quite different in its own respects. The Bread and Roses strike was primarily against the tyrannical employer; the Occupy movement faced a more ambiguous antagonist — it was a protest against the capitalist class as a whole. “A turning point with Occupy was when the edgy youth were joined by teachers and nurses and moms and dads and people pushing carriages who agreed with them. It was joined because something was in the air that seemed right. This Market Basket strike is a definitive example of what we call direct action. That is exactly what it was, it was direct action by people who did not ask permission by authority. People said, ‘No, we are going to tell you you’re wrong, and we are willing to risk our jobs because of it,’” said Mackin.

What makes Market Basket stand apart from the aforementioned movements was the involvement of the customers alongside the employees. “What was particularly wonderful about this was how the customers joined in with the workers, and this was led by senior management people. These were people making close to $100,000 who had been with the company a long time no protection, the next day with 2000 people there were a smattering of customers with hand made signs, immediately after that customers joined in and it grew, and it grew, and it grew. My observation of it, what was interesting about this case was the extent to which everybody including the customers were using the language of ownership and were saying these are our stores, we’re the real owners here. We’re the real owners, they’re just the financial owners (in relevance to Arthur S.) we’re the natural owners and it’s the people here who really own the stores.”  Said Mackin.

Long time vendor to Market Basket Jim Fantini was present during the symposium as well and gave him insight on what happened during the strikes. He also was an architect of the Facebook page that the general public followed to educate themselves on what was happening. “When we said we are Market Basket at the start I think we thought we were Market Basket but we realized that what happened here was scary for every single one of us. We didn’t really have a strategy we made strategy as we went along. Initially as we took action we had to believe that the customer would stand by us and understand and hopefully have some patience with us. Never in a million years did we think that the customers would make it their own battle and boycott the stores. Without the customer support we wouldn’t have gotten this done.”

Fantini took a huge risk in his cessation to supply Market Basket, but the gamble payed off. “While this was so scary, we think looking back it was the best thing we’ve ever had happen to this company,” said Fantini.

Crystal Pringle, a student at NECC, is a paying customer of Market Basket who took her own action to be a voice in the Market Basket strike. “This summer was so intense. Words do not come close to being able to describe how emotional, and the roller coaster of how intense this was. Unfortunately we live in an age where we have this mutated hybridized version of corporate media and yellow journalism and that kind of dictates what gets out to you guys, and unless you were right there you have no idea.”

Pringle got involved with the strikes because she could not find passion to ignite something to inspire her in her regular classes at NECC. She felt stagnant and apathetic toward her academics until this revolution came along and sparked her interest. “Market Basket changed my life. The people that I met, the people that I was involved with, people that I hadn’t met but was involved with, they changed me forever and I am indebted to these amazing individuals in this corporation and in order to come here and give you an insider perspective without hidden agendas.” Said Pringle.

Pringle focused on two ideals of the strike that she felt were overlooked by mainstream media. “I want to focus on two facets  that I feel have been overlooked, misconstrued,  or outright slandered  in the significance that each have had and continues to have for Market Basket. I hope to define what a family means.” For Pringle the word family has a resonating impact on her influence in the strikes. The other facet that was in Pringle’s eyes was overlooked was as she called a secret ingredient, was people caring about people. “Let me tell you what made a difference, people caring about people from the top down. That’s where the difference was.”

“I got involved when I was about three weeks away from ending this horrific semester, after hours and hours of slamming my head into some triangles and waiting for some mathematical knowledge and sense to come to me, I decided to take a break and went for some mindless entertainment on Facebook, and saw a picture of Market Basket, and their shelves were empty and it woke me up,” said Pringle.

“In that moment there lit a fire, there’s something here about New England where we’re educated consumers. I was not the only one who started reading everything. I’m not gonna be told a story by a corporation. I discovered that I learned more in those few days about the grocery store that I shop at than I had in school all year.”

Pringle became actively involved as the days grew hotter in July, she decided to take a bunch of water to the protesters outside, to the Market Basket stores in her area. “When I went to go deliver water to the people in Plaistow they were well stocked, they had tents and music and they had all this water and I brought them this case and the gratitude I was met with, you don’t see that and it floored me.”

In essence the family Pringle describes grew from senior management to employees, and eventually even vendors and consumers. “What we saw, we saw a family of vendors, took a huge blow and walked away and said I’m not selling to you, I will not help you. Two million customers, 97 percent of customers said nope, I will not walk through those doors. It was amazing — associates, not unionized laborers, came together and said they weren’t gonna do this. There was plenty of food on the shelves, I was there 40 hours a week and I didn’t work there. I was there, there was food on the shelves at a much cheaper price but people still drove way out of their way and payed more money for their food and it wasn’t because they had to, it was because it was what was right. They were a part of this family.”

Pringle illustrated how grateful and welcoming the protestors were, and how much they not only felt like a family but essentially were a family of people standing up for what they believed in. The outstanding support that trickled down from senior management, from employees and vendors, to customers that inspired people caring about one another and doing what was right is what made the Market Basket strikes so successful.

News

NECC holds security seminar

 
This is a photo of people sitting at round tables in a large room watching a presentation
NECC staff met with local departments and security groups to review NECC’s safety standards | NECC Observer

On Friday, Oct. 31, select NECC faculty, staff and students met with NECC’s presently contracted security company, EIS inc., Haverhill police and other local security institutions to spend a day overviewing safety procedures and scenarios for NECC.

“We’re doing a drill with our public security department, and the company that supports them, Eagle Investigative Services, who is the company that we hired to do that work, along with the local police, fire departments, state police,” said David Gingerella, CFO for NECC. “And so if we had an incident on campus, in this case, it’s a fire, how would we respond to it? What are the things we would do, and demonstrate what we did well and what we might not do so well on. [We’d] correct things things we didn’t do so well and hopefully be prepared if we ever have an emergency on campus.”

“Our plan is to then have an actual test of doing this in June. We will physically have the fire departments, police departments be on campus as if we’re having the event actually occurring, and again find out what we do well and what we don’t do well on,” said Gingerella. “There is nothing more important for this administration than the safety of our students, faculty and staff. That is the utmost importance for us, and we are continuing to do that to work with all the other administrations on campus to make sure that any holes we have in our ability to continue to make people feel safe, [and] that we continue to fill those and are prepared for any kinds of emergencies.”

“We’ve gotten great feedback from students today,” said Dina Brown, head of Student Engagement. “I think it was really good to hear from students in getting their feedback and input about how to make it better.”

Sports

Former NECC baseball alumni celebrate

and  

On Sunday, October 19, players from past and present NECC Knights baseball teams gathered on the Haverhill campus for the second annual Alumni Day. In all, about 17 baseball alums from several different Knights’ teams and their families came to the festivities which included a cookout, a home run derby and an alumni baseball game.

Among the players who came to the game were Francisco Baez (’03), a former All-Star and a member of the first state championship team, effectively “starting the winning tradition here”, as Athletic Director Sue MacAvoy puts it.

Also present were members of the 2005 team, as well as more recent teams, like 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Representing the 2012 team were Pat Parker, a former All-American who went on to play two years for the Umass Lowell RiverHawks, and Keegan Pafford, another All-American who won a Rawlings’ Gold Glove award for his outstanding play in centerfield.

One member of the 2013 team who was present was Dan Bonito, who took home the prize in the home run derby with 3 homers over the right field fence.

However, the real star of the afternoon was former Knight Manny Cabral (’13). After graduating from NECC last year, Cabral decided that he wanted to make a difference. He did this by donating some of his bone marrow to a person who needed it, a person whom he didn’t even know.

Sue MacAvoy was truly moved by his selflessness, and decided that she was going to nominate him for an Outstanding Alumni Award to recognize his community service. Cabral received the award at graduation last year.

“To think that an All-Star player with a bright future would just put athletics aside like that and help another person, I don’t even have any words to describe it,” said MacAvoy.

Fast forward to the weekend of October 19, and Cabral is about to meet the woman who received his bone marrow. He decided to bring Rebecca Dolan, 32, of Columbus, Ohio, to the Alumni Day festivities.

Dolan received Cabral’s bone marrow in January of 2013, and credits Manny with saving her life. She has since returned to her job at the Ohio State University, and after some emails back and forth, the two agreed to meet on October 17. Dolan and her immediate family flew into Boston on the evening of the 17, and met Cabral at his aunt’s house. Together they sat and talked, and Dolan was finally able to thank her savior face to face.

The alumni played a full seven-inning game that lasted about two hours. Former Knights’ coach Chris Shanahan, who was with the Knights in their 2012 World Series run, coached the alumni team.

In the fifth inning, there was a ceremony on the field where Cabral received his Knights team jersey, and Rebecca was given some NECC baseball gear. Dolan also gave Cabral several gifts, including a book full of thank you letters from her friends and family.
After the game, MacAvoy and Cabral’s coach, Jeff Mejia, spoke about Cabral’s service and his selflessness.

“We talked about how we wanted our other athletes to grow and have a positive impact on other people’s lives,” said MacAvoy.

After the home run derby and baseball game were over, players and their families gathered for a barbeque.

“Everyone had a great time, current and former players sat together and shared stories,” said Sue MacAvoy.

The alumni who gathered for the festivities that afternoon spanned from the 2003 and 2005 teams all the way to the 2012, 2013 and 2014 World Series teams. The day was filled with great fun and fond memories being shared by all. Next fall, the alums will gather on the Haverhill campus again for another great Alumni Day.

Arts and Entertainment, Features

Dancing with Nina Cabral

 

By Shaina Richards

With big brown eyes and a bright and bubbly personality, NECC dance major Nina Cabral easily grabs and holds her audience’s attention, even when she isn’t dancing. At only nineteen years old, Nina just started getting offers from dance companies in Boston and is going to perform as the lead in Slutcracker, a Burlesque version of the Nutcracker, at the Somerville Theater in early December.

Very petite, energetic, and always onto the next thing, Nina radiates confidence, especially when she dances. Nina is described by fellow dance member Zany Dwight, a freshman at NECC and fellow member of the dance club, as having “a quick wit and extremely talented, and never a show off, but carries herself in the beauty and grace of a good and genuine person.”

Even those who have only worked with Nina for a short amount of time are left with a positive impression as someone who is not only a success with their dancing career, but also with maintaining modesty and a real consideration for others. Zany also said, “she has become a person I look up to. She is totally herself and she is very accepting of others. She encourages me when we dance, even though she is obviously the shining star.”

Nina’s passion for dance started when she was 13 years old, and she has been in love with it ever since. Although she took classes when she was very small, she hardly remembered any of it.

“My older sister, who I looked up to, decided that dance was lame and so neither she nor I would be doing that activity anymore,” Nina said. “After my sister went to high school, I had a large chunk of time to figure out who I was as a person. I might have never started dancing had my older sister not gone to the public high school since I was very much living in her shadow.”

Now, Nina works every day to improve her dancing and intends to pursue a career in it.

From 2012-2013, Nina spend a year living in New York studying ballet at the Gelsey Kirkland Academy of Classical Ballet, which was great preparation for the upcoming roles she was able to land this year.

“It was a blast! I was in New York for a year, starting first with the ABT [American Ballet Theater] summer intensive and then the Bolshoi (a Russian ballet school) summer intensive,” Nina said.

She auditioned for the Gelsey Kirkland School during the summer intensives and got in. “I had to,” she said. “My dad told me that if I didn’t come back with anything that the summer was going to be my ‘last shebang’ with dance.”

After the year, she felt she had improved significantly. “Something I really enjoyed at my dance school, which was at the cross section of Canal and Franklin, was that one of the studios had a big window that overlooked the street. The street happened to be one that a tourist bus would ride on. Whenever the tourist bust would be at a red light people would gawk at us in amazement and take pictures. I really felt like I was doing it, like I was going somewhere with dance, but in reality I was still paying.”

Last year, a ballet company in Burlington put her on as an apprentice, and she performed for them. It was the first time she was considered part of a company. “I was so excited and happy about it that I cried,” she said. Looking back, she realized it wasn’t even a big company, and she wasn’t even assigned much work, but she was so happy that someone had recognized her work and wanted her. As an apprentice she had the advantage of getting to take free classes and improve her dancing.

This year, Nina also got the lead in the performance of Dracula as the character Wilhelmina. John Ling, who played the role of Dracula, described her as a “true treasure.”

“Working with Nina was a wonderful experience for me,” John said. “I have had numerous partners in the past, most good and some bad. I am happy to report that my experience with Nina was excellent. She is a talented dancer with much to offer anyone. She is considerate, sweet, strong and, most importantly, very humble.”

She was also invited to join two dance companies in Boston after attending the Boston Dance Alliance audition for Slutcracker. A friend of hers, who used to go to NECC, offered that Nina go with her to the audition. Although Nina initially questioned it because of its scandalous nature, she decided that she needed to put herself out there and give her dancing some exposure. “I can’t go anywhere if no one has seen me!” she said.

The BDA audition had different auditions for four different types of dance: ballet, modern/improv, hip hop and jazz. For the modern/improv audition, Nina decided to try something new and pulled her shirt over her head while walking on all fours. Although worried it might come across as silly, the judges apparently appreciated her spontaneity; she was just recently invited to join the Jo-Mé Dance Company and Rainbow Tribe.

“A really close friend of mine told me that everyone has special talents and they were given to us by a higher power for us to use, and if we don’t use what we are given we are pretty much letting the universe down,” said Nina.

Nina’s passion for dance has already taken her further than she ever would have believed, and she is excited to progress in her dancing career as she continues to study at NECC.

Arts and Entertainment

The work of NECC art students displayed at the Haverhill campus

 

This is the last week to view the artwork of Jeff Henriquez in the Bentley Art Space. The work has been on display since the opening reception on Sept. 30, when students had the opportunity to meet the artist and speak with him about his work.

Taking its place soon is the artwork of students who participated in the exhibit previously hosted by the Haverhill Public Library entitled “Art and Literature of the Graphic Novel.”
According to professor Marc Mannheimer, “The students’ work will be up by next Tuesday, Nov. 11 at the latest, and be up until Nov. 30.”

A reception has not yet been scheduled.

Artists and guests attended an opening reception in the Johnson auditorium at the public library on Sept. 11 and the artwork was on display there through the month of September.

This display is the product of students enrolled in the Spring 2014 semester of a learning community class co-taught by Mannheimer and professor Ginger Hurajt. The class is also called the art and literature of the graphic novel and it explores the connection between art and literature.

Students first wrote a short story. They then illustrated them in the style of a comic, relying heavily on the illustration to tell the story. Twenty-one stories were compiled into a 44 page book which was created entirely on the Haverhill campus, called “Tales From the Valley, Volume 1.”

This book is Volume 1 because this is the first year this class was offered. The feedback from students was overall very positive, and Mannheimer said that he is looking forward to many more volumes to come.

“I liked this class and doing this project, but I’ll probably focus on art more than writing in the future,” said Benjamin Pintor. Pintor is one of the artists and an industrial design
major at NECC.

Dane Cecil is an art illustration major at NECC. He was not one of the artists on this project but was there to support his peers and examine their work.

“These pictures are really nice,” Cecil said. “I like the way they use the details in the pictures to tell the story.”

Only the framed first page of each story-board will be on display, but books can be purchased for $5 by contacting professor Marc Mannheimer at mmannheimer@necc.mass.edu.

Features

Meet Phonnara Dy

 

By Eduardo Souza

Phonnara Dy sits with his laptop open and attentively listens to Professor Diann Cahaly’s biology lecture on cell structure. Dy’s laptop displays the day’s powerpoint presentation, his notebook is open, and he’s ready to take the day’s notes.

Dy is a 32-year-old resident of Lowell who moved from Cambodia in the winter of 2011. Soon after getting a job to support himself in this foreign place, he knew that if he wanted his life to get better he needed a degree. He then enrolled in Northern Essex with the goal of getting an Associate of Nursing degree.

“I really want to be a nurse,” Dy says.

Since Cambodian is vastly different from English, which isn’t his first language, Dy says he needs complete focus in class in order to learn the material.

“The language is really hard for me,” says Dy. “Sometimes I don’t understand what people are saying.”

Dy’s perseverance is evident to anyone who meets him. He not only works full-time, seven days a week, but is still taking fifteen credits this semester. He holds two jobs: one as a machine operator for Vicor Corporation; the other as a CNA for Atria Marland Place in Andover.

Dy has a passion for helping people and hopes to continue helping people as a nurse.

“As a CNA,” Dy said, “I help elderly people. I assist them. I give them medication.”

As a machine operator, he runs many different types of mechanisms.

As taxing as working and going to school in a foreign country is for Dy, his indomitable spirit perseveres and faces challenges head on.

“I work seven days a week,” said Dy. “But I also have to study, because only school can make my life better in the U.S.”

Dy said school is difficult sometimes because he works seven days a week and struggles to find the time to study. But somehow he makes it work.

Dy is trilingual. He not only speaks Cambodian and English fluently, but also French.

“In Cambodia, they teach us French and English,” said Dy. But the English they teach is British and different from the U.S.’s. “The English they teach sounds different from here. When I moved here, I had a hard time understanding people.”

Aaron Labrecque, a classmate of his majoring in physical education, is impressed by Dy’s dedication to school. “Phonnara is friendly and eager to learn,” said Labrecque. Labrecque said it’s amazing that Dy speaks three different languages.

Dy is currently in his fourth semester at NECC and close to getting his degree in nursing. But he also has another degree from Cambodia.

“I have a degree in finance and banking,” said Dy. “But it’s hard to get a job with my degree from Cambodia.”

With his finance degree in his native country, Dy worked as a project manager for Unicef where he wrote proposals and requested money from different organizations to fund Unicef’s projects. He hopes to use his experience as a project manager in this next step of his life.

When Dy came to the U.S. in 2011, he left all of his family back in Cambodia. His two parents and six siblings, five sisters and one brother, all live in Cambodia.

“My parents have their own business and they sell clothes materials,” said Dy. “One of my sisters has her own business. Two of my sisters are at the university for nursing back in Cambodia.”

Many of Dy’s siblings have their own businesses. But he still helps them whenever he can. Dy not only supports himself here, but also sends money to his family in Cambodia and helps support them as well.

According to Dy, there are vast differences between his home country and the U.S.

“To me, the biggest differences are language, weather, cultures, living styles and food,” he said.

Despite all the differences in culture, working two jobs and going to school full-time, living in a foreign place with no family nearby and all the hardships that this 32-year-old encounters daily, Dy still comes to every single class, asks questions when he doesn’t understand something, and gives his all in work and school every day.

Opinion

NECC baseball players talk sports and school

 

Have you ever thought of joining a sports team here at Northern Essex? Think you wouldn’t have time to juggle classes, work and a sport? Wrong! The students on the NECC baseball team beg to differ.

Baseball is an all American sport. Here’s some of the NECC baseball players giving their opinion on college sports:

Ryan Mcauliffe:
#19
Playing baseball since the age of 5
2 year pitcher at NECC
“Gets you in the right direction for college , it has a nice set schedule but is strict.”

Harrison Smoske:
#6
Playing baseball since the age of 1
1 year center at NECC
“Gets you involved , it’s somewhat strict although sometimes it is tough with work.”

Jake Rogers:
#16
Playing baseball since the age of 1
3 year 1st basemen at NECC
“Helps with school, and you got to keep your grades up because its strict.”

Zarif Pajazetovic
# 28
Playing baseball since the age of 7
2 year pitcher at NECC
“It gives you something to do through the semester.”

Ryley Wannock
#5
Playing baseball since the age of 3
2 year shortstop at NECC
“You have to keep your grades up and be responsible.”

Mac Singleton
#8
Playing baseball since the age of 3
2 year 2nd basemen at NECC
“You get a great experience being on the team.”

Coach Jeff Mejia, who has been coaching the team for 3 years now, said the advantage of students playing in a college atmosphere rather than in high school is that “many students tend to be more focused in the classroom when playing a college sport, as their time is limited, so they tend to get their assignments and studying done sooner than later.”

NECC is a great segue for the players to move on to four-year schools.

A lot of the players mentioned how it can be strict being on a college team.

“We as an athletic department work very well with the registration and advising center to help all our athletes excel in and out of the classroom,” said Mejia.

The team is alike a family. The way the coaches and the players interact with each other really shows their love for the game.

Features

PACE yourself at NECC with Karen Mitchell

 

By Fred Riley III

Karen Mitchell is the director of the Pathways to Academic and Career Excellence also known as the PACE program at Northern Essex Community College.

Mitchell has been working at NECC for 21 years or one-third of her life. Mitchell started at NECC in 1993 as an academic adviser/career councilor. During her time as an academic adviser from 1993 until 1997, Mitchell advocated Perkins Vocational Education grants for college woman in non-traditional careers and assisted Lawrence high school juniors and seniors in making the transition to college through the Massachusetts Educational Opportunity Project (MEOP).

In 1997, Karen became the director of the PACE program at NECC. The Pace program is a federally funded program. Started by President Lyndon B. Johnson in The Educational Opportunity Act of 1964, the program is available to 250 students, or two-thirds of students at NECC as mandated by Congress.

PACE participants must come from families with incomes at least 150 percent or less of the federal poverty level, and either parent must have graduated with a bachelor degree or higher.

PACE was originally part of the Trio Project started by the Educational Opportunity act of 1964. It stands for the three education programs that were started in 1964. Currently there are now eight educational funded programs provided by the federal government. The programs are available to students in more than 1,000 colleges in the U.S., the Caribbean
and the Pacific Islands.

Mitchell graduated from The University of New Hampshire, Durham in 1973 with a Bachelor of the Arts in Spanish and minored in education. Mitchell started working in education as a Spanish teacher at Kennett High School in Conway, N.H. from 1974 through 1977.

Mitchell then earned a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies from Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. in 1979. She went on to work as a student adviser for New England College in Henniker, N.H. from 1979 until 1988.

In 1988, Mitchell became a college counselor at Great Bay Community College in Stratham N.H. and worked there until 1993. In 1993, she started working at NECC.

In 1995, Mitchell earned a second masters degree in Education from the University of New Hampshire, Durham. She has also attended NECC. In 1999 she was awarded a certificate in Computer Applications with high honors in the subject.

Mitchell continued teaching Spanish to students online from 2009 through 2012 for students of the Virtual Learning Academy Charter School in Exeter, N.H.

Mitchell’s office is located in the student advising center on the second floor of the Haverhill campus. She also travels to the Lawrence campus once a week.

Mitchell said her favorite part of the job is “to help students achieve their goal and dreams, it is phenomenal.”

Michael Markham, who also works for PACE, said, “Karen is energetic, kind, and compassionate in putting students ahead of everyone. She is good working with students who face challenges.” Markham has been working with Karen for the last 17 years.

Mitchell likes to travel. While attending the University Of New Hampshire, Durham, she spent her junior year studying abroad at the University of Navarra in Pamplona Spain. She has also been to France, England, Hawaii, Guatemala, and she has visited Yellowstone. She would like to visit Iceland and Switzerland in the future.

Sports

Basketball season is starting

 

The NECC men’s basketball team opens up their season on Nov. 1 and plays their first two games on the road at NHTI and Lincoln College of New England.

However, the season won’t really get going until Veterans Day, Nov. 11, when the Knights play their first home game of the 2014-2015 season against Gateway Community College (Conn). This game kicks off a tough stretch of seven games in 14 days, including conference games against MassBay, Holyoke and Massasoit Community College.

To celebrate Veterans Day this year, NECC is planning to have a ceremony honoring local current and former veterans before the Knights’ home opener. Athletic Director Sue MacAvoy says that NECC student Carli Hamilton will be singing the National Anthem before the game, and she is hoping to get a local high school ROTC program to be the color guard for the ceremony.

There will also be a small ceremony honoring current and former NECC students who are veterans, as well as possibly other local veterans. All NECC students and alumni who are veterans are encouraged to attend the festivities.

MacAvoy also stated that NECC has designed hats with Operation Hat Trick, an organization that helps veterans with both visible and invisible wounds from the battlefield through the sale of OHT branded merchandise. The hats will have the NECC Knights’ logo on the front, and the proceeds will go to the Wounded Warrior Project.

Operation Hat Trick was established in 2007 by Dot Sheehan of New Hampshire, and started as a local community program at the University of New Hampshire. Over the years, it has grown into a nationally recognized program, with over 220 schools from all 50 states adopting the program, most recently NECC.

Teams from Minor League Baseball and the American Hockey League have also joined. Even NHL teams such as the San Jose Sharks, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Boston Bruins have adopted OHT.

In addition to the Operation Hat Trick fundraiser, the NECC softball team will also be holding a bake sale at the Veterans Day game to raise money for a local charity of their choice.

Planning for this event is still underway and some items on the agenda may change, but it will surely be an exciting day on the NECC Haverhill campus when the Knights play their home opener.

Features

Mike Prescott, the Renaissance man

 

By Duane Sherman

Over the decades, NECC has seen many gifted athletes on it’s campus. To find one that also has the ability to sing and enjoys working with the homeless would be rare. It would make that individual a bit of a renaissance man. Meet 28-year-old Mike Prescott, who is from from North Andover.

Prescott is a man of many talents, and he shares them with all that come into contact with him.

When students pass Prescott in the halls, they have no idea that he is a gifted athlete with a shining past. He started participating in the Special Olympics at the young age of 5 years old. Since that time, he has taken home over 50 medals from the ceremonies. Prescott’s infectious smile shows his pride in winning all of them. He excels at relay races and track and field.

Prescott can also nail the 3-point basketball shots. It’s a specialty of his, and he has the gold, silver and bronze medallions to prove it. You can be certain that he keeps them all shined up.

“My participation in the games has made me happy and proud,” said Prescott. He found a girlfriend at the games as well.

Prescott is not a student of NECC, but rather a participant of a program called ‘Opportunity Works,’ that has a relationship with the college. The program helps to ready it’s participants for the real world, preparing them to understand it with real work experience.

The program allows the individual to assimilate easier into the daily tasks of life. Prescott is one of the standouts of ‘Opportunity Works.’

“This is a great fit for all of Mike’s potential,” said Jamie Nadeau, who serves as Project Search coordinator for the program. “This also helps to keep him in his peer group,” said Nadeau.

The program lasts 30 weeks, breaking individual assignments into three 10 week positions around the Haverhill and Lawrence campuses. Prescott’s first assignment was with campus security. There, he manned the security desk in the Spurk building and walked the beat of the parking lots, looking for offenders that had parked illegally, or were in a handicapped spot without a placard or proper license plate.

“Mike did an excellent job with us. He was very motivated. He just jumped right into it,” said Dan Tirone, Operations Commander for Public Safety on the NECC campus. “I wish all of my guys were as motivated as Mike.”

Prescott felt right at home in the ranks of security. He loves the law. In fact, two of his favorite shows are ‘Judge Judy’ and ‘Cops.’

When his time with security was up and he was ready for the next position, Prescott, a known prankster with a sense of humor, was given a special pizza party. The members of NECC security turned the tables and served him up a still wrapped, frozen pizza.

In all actuality, there was a stack of fresh hot ones in the next room for everyone to enjoy. Prescott felt like one of the guys and knew that they all appreciated what he had done for them.

The second assignment put Prescott in the middle of the food world, landing him a spot in Jitters Campus Cafe in the Spurk Building. This pleased him. If there is one thing that he knows, it’s his way around a kitchen.

“I’m into the culinary arts. It comes from watching Emeril Lagasse on the Food Network,” said Prescott. The TV chef brought some ‘BAM!’ into his life.

The previous program that Prescott was involved with allowed him to shop and cook for himself. Lobster, clams and scallops wrapped in bacon are on his list of seafood delights. He dreams of his own restaurant one day. Prescott has a strong enough work ethic to run one.

“I don’t sit around. I go to the cafe to work and I do whatever is asked of me,” said Prescott.

Chef Barry Towle, who is also the manager at Jitters, said, “Mike is a hard worker and he has a good head on his shoulders. He really tries at everything that comes his way.”

Previously, through the Opportunity Works program, Prescott has been able to serve meals to the homeless at an area Salvation Army shelter. This meant a lot to him. He takes great pride in his ability to serve his community in that manner.

“Mike is gracious and grateful for all that he has,” said Jamie Nadeau. “He is generous and was overjoyed to serve lunch to the homeless.”

Of course, it’s not all work for Prescott. He’s been to Fenway Park to see the Sox take on the Baltimore Orioles. That was a reward for setting a weight loss goal and achieving it. Prescott earns his way through life.

“It was incredible the first time that I walked into Fenway Park. I came up the cement stairs and there it was. It’s so big and green. I was happy that I got to see Big Papi play,” said Prescott.

A true sports fan, Prescott gets excited when he thinks about the giant confetti cannons at Gillette Stadium, where he saw his favorite player, Tom Brady play. He remembers the multicolored confetti raining down on him when Brady made a touchdown pass.

Prescott’s other hobby is something that he is equally as passionate about, music. A few years back, his mother and stepfather gave him one of his most cherished Christmas gifts. It was tickets to see the Backstreet Boys reunion show at Boston Garden. It even included a limousine ride to and from the show. He still glows when he discusses the evening out. It’s that infectious smile of his that sets you at ease.

“That was a once in a lifetime opportunity,” said Prescott.

Mike Prescott is not just an avid music listener, he is also a performer with a choral group called ‘Playing Among the Stars’.

“Mike thrives in the limelight,” said Nadeau. “He has no fear. He recruits others to learn about projects. He doesn’t mind speaking in public. Still, he is a sensitive individual.”

The group does performances on a regular basis. Prescott has been a member for the past 3 years and has taken part in many of the shows. The music ranges from Broadway hits to holiday music. They usually do the concerts with pre-recorded music, but have played with live musicians.

Nadeau said that Prescott will take away experience and a new found confidence when he completes the program.

“He will have made connections that could only be made here,” said Nadeau. She is uncertain where he will finish out his third 10 week assignment. He may serve it at the Lawrence campus. One thing is for certain, wherever and whatever that may be, Mike Prescott will do his best with a smile on his face.