The Northern Essex Community College Games Club is a fun and unique club that is great for meeting friends while playing a myriad of different types of games.

This past semester the games club has been meeting consistently.

As advisor Matt Gingras says, “This semester we met in C-107, alternating Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Tuesdays were in the evening from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Wednesdays were from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.”

The games club plays many different types of games. Gingras says “I like some classics like Connect Four and Monopoly. The past two meetings I played chess with our students and thankfully didn’t embarrass myself too much. My favorite game is One Night a Werewolf, which seemed to be a good hit with the students this year, too.”

The games club also has access to multiple other types of games that students can play with one another. The games club is also a great way to meet friends and socialize.

Gingras stated, “We had a group of students that showed up consistently every week, which was good because they formed friendships. At our end of semester celebration today, we had our regular attendees come out and were able to just talk and hang out with each other.”

Like everything else, the NECC games club was somewhat affected by covid. Gingras said, “Thankfully we always had students that showed up consistently to hang out and have a good time, so we weren’t impacted this semester too badly outside of that.”

Gingras was very happy with the space that the club was able to create for NECC students. He said, “This was a weird semester, where NECC was mostly fully back, but COVID was still obviously around. The club provided a space where people could hang out, play games, and have fun for an hour a week. My co-advisor, Stella Vlahakis, and I used some of our budget on snacks, water, and Gatorades so there would always be something to drink or munch on, too.”

Michael Cross is an adjunct professor at Northern Essex Community College and has a passion for science.

Cross has a PHD in organic chemistry from the University of Utah.

He has been working here at Northern Essex Community College for 11 years now.

Cross is also very interested in forensic science specifically.

He says, “I love all kinds of science (chemistry, physics, biology, etc.) and I especially love the application of science. So when

Paul Cavan and I began discussing the need for a forensic science course I was very excited to create and teach the course.”
Cross teaches primarily online classes at NECC now.

He says, “I taught full-time at NECC for 11 years. In 2020 I moved to Utah and now teach online as an adjunct instructor.”

When asked what the most difficult thing about online teaching was, he said, “It’s hard to keep the class engaged. With face to face classes I can see when my students lose interest and we can switch up what we’re doing in class. But with online classes it’s much harder to gauge where students are at.”

However, he does like the fact that online classes offer a wide range of different students who may not normally be able to attend in person classes. He also says that there could be certain disadvantages to students who take online classes.

He says, “It is extremely easy to fall behind in online classes. Without a professor there to remind you in person about upcoming assignments, it is easy to procrastinate and fall way behind.”

Despite certain challenges, Cross is a very passionate professor who enjoys working at Northern Essex Community College.

When asked what it was that he liked about NECC specifically, Cross said, “I really enjoy teaching such a wide variety of students. At a community college you get to work with students of all ages and from all walks of life. It’s great to have such a wide variety of life experiences in a classroom.”

Isabelle Gagne is a pyschology professor here at Northern Essex community college and she is a valuable part of the NECC community.

Like most faculty, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented challenges in recent years.  However, Gagne has been teaching online classes for some time now.

Gagne says, “I’ve been teaching online for many years. I think it’s just a different modality of teaching and learning. I think what’s important is that students think about their preferred learning style as well as their strengths and weaknesses. They should pick a class modality where they will be engaged in the material and motivated to learn.”

Gagne also believes that online classes have had certain consequences for her and for her students.

When asked what has been difficult about online classes, Gagne said, “The most difficult thing for me is not meeting my students. I love engaging with my students and I often learn from them how to be a better teacher and a better human overall. Students bring me joy and help me remember why I do what I do.”

Gagne also said that there have been disadvantages to students in online classes, She said, “Yes, I think it’s more difficult (but not impossible) to create genuine connections and deep learning. I think when students say: “I didn’t learn anything” they mean they don’t know how the content is useful and how they can apply it to their lives. It’s important to explain to students how what they are learning can be applied to their own individual lives.“

Student Life Coordinator, Stephanie Haskell, has a lot on her plate at NECC, but she is an integral part of the Northern Essex community.

Haskell is from Concord New Hampshire and has been working at Northern Essex for over three years now since September of 2018.

There are many important aspects of Haskell’s job here at NECC. “Another area I oversee is all the student clubs and organizations” said Haskell. This is certainly one of her most important responsibilities.

She makes sure that all of these clubs have all of their appropriate paperwork and everything they need to thrive.

This includes the Student Government Association. She is actually the adviser of the Student Government Association. The Student Government Association has been integral in creating solutions to certain issues at Northern Essex.

Another one of Haskell’s important responsibilities is overseeing and running Northern Essex student life social media accounts. This includes the Northern Essex Community college TikTok account.

Haskell is also responsible for organizing social and educational events. The college hosts several of these events within a standard semester. Furthermore, Haskell is on many different boards within the Northern Essex community that are essential to the prosperity of the school.

When asked about what she loves most about her job here at Northern Essex, Haskell said, “I love actually being at the events because I get to meet the usually new students”.