Daily Archives: November 5, 2014

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.