All posts by Matthew Scharn, Correspondent

Arts and Entertainment

A community for all: Acting Out Theater Company

 
Stairs with writing on them that says all about is what I'd acting out
Acting Out Theater Photo courtesy of Matthew Scharn

Acting Out Theater Company is a nonprofit community theater that really puts the community in community theatre.  Located in Lawrence at 56 Island Street, Acting Out Theater has been open to the public for over 20 years now.

Linda Schoonmaker, one of the founders of acting out has been involved since the early beginnings of the company as one of the founders of it and is the current president and resident director of the company.  “I started Acting Out in 2002 and it was just on a whim.  A friend of mine, we were both in a production of Fiddler on the Roof and we said we thought it would be nice to give kids an opportunity onstage to be heard as well as seen.”

For some, like Cameron Whealan, it helped them to rekindle their joy of theatre that had been missing for quite a while.  When asked what acting out meant to him, Whealan said, “I don’t know if I can articulate that that well, Acting Out was sort of where I fell in love with theatre again after high school where I didn’t do theatre for a while.  I’ve done a lot of shows here, it’s community, and to be candid it’s a really really big part of my life.”

Many other people in the community feel this same sentiment, as it has become a second home to many, not just kids, but adults as well, one such being Molly Tannatt.  Tannatt started off at Acting Out taking her daughter Abbey to the kid classes at Acting Out in 2005 and realized while doing so that theatre seems pretty fun and enjoying so she decided to start doing shows there in 2008 and has been involved ever since.  When asked what Acting Out means to her, Tannatt said “The connection for me both with my daughters as young people and the other young people.  They become like your other children, it’s a give and take, they keep us young, they look to us for guidance, and it’s just the best you can’t replace that.”

Acting Out is and will always be a place where people can just let go and be fully, unapologetically themselves.  Nothing to hold you back, just all the encouragement and friends you could ask for.  Most feel as though it’s not just friends you make here, but a whole big family that will always be there for you.  Their Slogan, Acting Out is what it’s all about vey much rings true and can be agreed upon by anyone who’s stepped foot there.

Campus Life, Slider

Jammin’ at Spring Jam

 
Students play music in the quad on the Haverhill campus.
Students play music as part of Spring Jam on the Haverhill campus April 17. Photo by Matthew Scharn

On Wednesday April 17th, Northern Essex held its annual Spring Jam for students and faculty, with many activities and different events taking place on campus.  

There was food, free giveaways, games, but most important for a lot of people, music. 

 If you were anywhere on the Haverhill Campus April 17th from 11 through 1, you were most definitely graced with the great tunes and spectacular voices that took over the quad.

Most of those that performed the live music are music students of Alisa Bucchiere, the head of the music department here at Northern Essex.  

From original music to covers of songs, this event gave these students a chance to perform in front of people that they wouldn’t normally get the chance to do so for, giving them more of an experience with a live audience.  

A few of the students who performed at the event, Alex Ravi and Kadie Albrecht, were excited with the opportunity to showcase their talents and Jam out on campus.

When asked what his favorite part of performing in Spring Jam was, Ravi said “Just helping set up and being able to be in such a nice school and give the people a show.”  

Ravi performed the song Me, Myself & I by G-Eazy & Bebe Rexha alongside fellow music student Cierra Townshend as well as performing an original rap song entitled Clock In.

When asked the same question, Albrecht responded “These songs are songs we work in in PW class (Performance Workshop) and it’s great because we kind of get to fine tune in class as a workshop and then we get to perform it live.  We perform in front of each other every week but now we get to perform in front of people we’re not comfortable with, so it’s challenging but really fun!”  

Albrecht performed the song “I’m A Believer” with a group of people including Jackson Bonfiglioli, Cheryl Lopez, Sara Curtin, Jay Silva and Jacob McLean as well as singing multiple duets with people such as “Smoking Out The Window” and “Take Me or Leave Me” (both with Angely Gabriel), All I Wanted (With Jacob McLean) & Seventeen (With Sara Curtin).

With events like these on campus, we truly let music live on and impact so many people’s lives on a day to day basis. Anything music related linked with NECC can be found under the #NECCMusicThrives on social media,

Arts and Entertainment, Home Page News Bytes

Music with Alicia

 
A woman sitting at a piano holding a guitar with a sign in the background advertising Music with a Alicia
Photo courtesy of Alicia Malana Photo

Music can really change lives, and for some they work to change people’s life with it everyday.  Alicia Malana, a 2021 graduate of Northern Essex from Newburyport took her degree in music at the college and started her own music school for students of all ages called Music With Alicia, located in Newbury.  

“We specialize in private lessons, group classes, and events.  We officially opened in September of 2023.  I have 2 other amazing teachers who offer various instruments!  We are also actively hiring and looking for more teachers to join our team!” says Malana.  

She has been playing piano ever since she was 6 years old and self taught herself on the guitar.  Malana writes her own music and says that teaching and sharing the joy of music with others has always been a passion.  

One teacher at Northern Essex that really influenced Malana along her music journey was Alisa Buccheiere.  

“She really influenced me in how I want to teach my students.  She was always so kind hearted and willing to help.  I look up to her a lot and use her teaching style on a daily basis, she makes music fun!”  

Although an avid music learner, she did not always see herself teaching, not until she started teaching it on the side for fun and fell in love with it. 

“Sharing my passion for music with others has given me so much joy. To see the smile on children’s faces and parents truly makes me feel accomplished in my job!”  

Check out her social media for her business Music with Alicia on facebook or @musicwithalicia on Instagram and bring the spirit of music into your life!

Arts and Entertainment, Home Page News Bytes

Music Thrives at NECC

 
A piano in the Spurk building lobby on the Haverhill campus.
The piano in the Spurk building lobby on the Haverhill campus. Photo by Matthew Scharn

For a few years now, the Northern Essex Haverhill Campus has been graced with the sound of music.  The hills are alive… well, Haver-hill!  

Upon entering the Spurk building’s front doors, students and faculty are greeted with the vibrant colors of this beautiful piano and if they’re lucky enough, an accompanist to go with it.  This beautiful piano has been displayed on campus since September of 2021.  Alisa Bucchiere, the head of the music program, had this to say on the video announcement when the piano was first put into the Spurk building; 

Those who are up to the challenge or just love to play the piano are encouraged to post a video of them playing it on social media using the hashtag #neccmusicthrives.  

One such person who took part in the challenge was music student Austin Parent who played a small tune on the painted piano.  

Another post posted by the NECC Liberal Arts instagram account showed someone playing a rendition of Imagine by The Beatles with the caption “Imagine a peaceful reverie in Spurk.” 

 Another video also posted by the NECC Liberal Arts account shows one person playing on the piano and their friend dancing to the tune in the background.  

Come and show your love of music and post your piano playing skills to the NECC social media.

Arts and Entertainment, Home Page News Bytes

Course offers glimpse into world of graphic novels

 

Every few semesters at Northern Essex, a Graphic Novel class is offered to students who are looking for a class to fill a writing intensive course requirement.  Over the course of the semester, students will be required to read graphic novels and complete responses in which they will bring into class after reading the specific graphic novel assigned and participate in a discussion session on that particular graphic novel.

This class is usually taught by Professor Ginger Hurajt and consists of reading and discussing about 6 graphic novels over the course of the semester and be required to write a script for a short 1-to-2-page comic, draw a 1-to-2-page comic after swapping with someone else, and complete your own comic autobiographical comic that is at least 3 pages long.

This semester students read graphic novels such as Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud, Maus by Art Spiegelman, The Sandman Volume 3: Dream Country by Neil Gaiman, Smashed: The Story Collection by Junji Ito, Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michaelangelo & Me by Ellen Forney and Oksi by Mari Ahokoivu.

When talking with a few students that took this class this semester, Dylan Oconnell and Alliyah Cuevas, they gave some insight as to what they liked most about this class.

When asked what their favorite graphic novel was throughout the semester in this class, Oconnell said, “Probably Oksi because there wasn’t really a lot of words to read and the pictures themselves were drawn with a lot of water color.”  In response to the same question, Cuevas said, “My favorite graphic novel was definitely Maus.  It gave me another perspective of the Holocaust by showing the devastating reality of survival and how loss and separation tore apart families.  It was very eye-opening to see the damage done to families and relationships as that perspective is never addressed in any history class.

When asked to give feedback on the course Oconnell said, “I think the course is good for people that are interested in art and reading because you get a bit of both in one class.”

When asked the same thing, Cuevas responded, “ I would say that the course was refreshing to take.  I like that there was a lot of focus on understanding the graphic novels as well as analyzing their art styles.  It was also nice to be able to make scripts and comics ourselves; it makes you realize how much commitment and energy it would take to create an entire comic book on your own.”

If you’re looking for courses to take and see that The Graphic Novel class is available to take that semester, consider looking into it for yourself.

Arts and Entertainment, Slider

Battle of the Band goes off without a hitch

 
A group of people stand on a stage.
The bands, judges and organizers of the Battle of the Bands. Photo courtesy of Alisa Bucchiere

Current students and alumni were excited to bring their talent to the first ever Battle of the Bands over in Northern Essex’s Tech Center on April 13.

The competition was fierce with bands such as Dragonfruit, Neck Dive, Four Symbols & Out of Water displaying their talent and chemistry on stage. The judges deliberated for a while after the bands had concluded playing their sets and named Neck Dive the winner of this year’s Battle of the Bands.

The organizer of this event, Alisa Bucchiere is also the head of the Music program here at Northern Essex and announced each band as they made their way onstage. The winning band Neck Dive not only received bragging right until the next Battle of the Bands but also a recording session in a studio.

When asked how they thought the first ever battle of the band went, Noah Rothgaber who played drums for Four Symbols said,

“I think it went great, I think everyone else did such a good job and I’m very proud of how our performance went.”

A member of the Audience, Cam Whealan who attends Middlesex Community College but tagged along with a friend that goes to Northern Essex was asked how he enjoyed the first ever Battle of the Bands to which he replied, “I thought it was a great time. I saw a lot of talented young musicians up there with a good variety of types of music including a Led Zeppelin cover band (Four Symbols) which I though was really good and I really thought the last band (Out of Water) was especially talented, they had some really interesting musical compositions in there. I think all the bands offered something interesting, a lot of really high energy. It was a really nice time.”

With the 1st Battle of the Bands being a success, they plan to make this an annual event, fun for all students.

The bands and their members were Out of Water, Christopher Drew, bass, Bruce Palmer, drums, Meg Collins, vocals, and Santino DeMonte, guitar; Neck Dive, Cade Dones, bass/vocal, Jasper Smith, drums, and James McNulty, guitar/vocals and Four Symbols, Noah Rothegaber, drums, Sean Smith, vocals, Josh Shultz, bass/piano and Santino DeMonte, guitar; and Dragonfruit, Austin Parent, guitar/vocals, Jackson Bonfiglioli, bass, Shaina Perates, vocals, and Alyssa Fantauzzi, drums.

 

News, Slider

Students continue to reflect on cyberattack

 

As most students attending Northern Essex Community College know, a few weeks ago at the beginning of March, the school underwent a cyber attack on its systems causing panic that personal information about staff and students were accessed from the systems.

For many students, the stress of not knowing if their personal information was accessed was made even worse by the stress of

Blackboard and the NECC portal also being down, where students turn in assignments, sometimes on a daily basis.

For some, like Meg Groff and Janie Dunn, it wasn’t a big hindrance, Groff saying “It didn’t have a huge impact on me because I don’t take that many classes, but it was frustrating not being able to use blackboard. It was kind of surreal thinking about a cyber attack. Felt like something out of a movie.”

Dunn said “Personally I didn’t have a bad experience with the cyberattack. I received all the emails and was like, okay, and instead of doing homework I went to work. It was honestly nice not having to do homework each day. “

For others like Lexi Tavares and Kaily Burke, it was pretty frustrating.

When talking to Tavares, she said “It was incredibly frustrating, with the already multiple snow days and spring break being the following week, it made me feel like I was doing remote work for most of the beginning of the semester.”

Burke said, “My classes were already decently behind the syllabus schedule with all the snow days. I had my second of four exams pushed to be after spring break for two different classes, and that long a wait for an exam can kind of hinder your performance if your understanding has gotten a bit stale. No one in my classes had access to their online homework, which meant we couldn’t do it if we wanted to. There was no way to be productive or take advantage of those days off.”

Most students interviewed for this story said they felt as though the school handled it the right way with Groff, Dunn and Tavares all coming to this conclusion.

In response to this Groff said, “I feel like the school handled it as best they could. They kept everybody updated and I appreciated that.”

Dunn said, “I thought the school handled it really well and did a great job updating us on what was going on and when school would be back open or closed.”

Whereas Tavares said, “I believe for the safety of staff and students, I understand why school was closed, however, the longevity of this cyberattack was definitely affecting my motivation and completion for school work.”

When asked the same question, Burke stated, “No, I don’t think the school handled it the right way. Not only because we were kept in the dark, but I honestly think it could have been prevented. Navigate was susceptible to this happening because security could have been taken more seriously. We all ended up facing the consequences.”

Burke, was asked an additional question as well, as they also work in the math center of the school as well as being enrolled in classes. When asked how the whole cyber attack situation affected their job on campus and if it was a stressful situation to deal with, Burke said, “I work in the math center. Everyone who came in to see me was as behind as I was. Feelings appeared to be mixed. I think most were more concerned about their private information being leaked than anything else, but needless to say no one was happy.”

Needless to say, emotions and feeling around this situation on campus were very mixed.

Features

A talk with some NECC alumni

 

Throughout the years, Northern Essex has been a place for many people, young and old, to further their education. Since it was established in 1961, Northern Essex has helped many people to succeed in and move forward in their desired field of study.

Many people such as Aaron Lehner and Nate Miller are examples of this.

Lehner majored in Communications and Theater and was Campus Life editor of the NECC Observer during his time at Northern Essex. When asked what he has taken away from his time at Northern Essex Lehner said “I can certainly say that by putting myself out onto the campus and getting involved, I’ve found my self confidence in the things I’m passionate about. I met some amazing friends that shared my interests and used them to give back to the campus.”

During his time on campus as a student, Lehner was also a new student advocate who helped to guide new students throughout their first semesters. After graduating from Northern Essex in 2020, Lehner transferred to Fitchburg State University where he continued his studies.

When asked whether they would recommend Northern Essex to other people and why, Lehner said “I certainly would recommend NECC to anyone interested in pursuing a college education.

“I believe that it’s a great way to build a foundation for your career path and network with like minded people. I experienced so many things that I never thought I would and discovered a lot about myself.”

Miller is another Northern Essex Alumni who majored in Theater during his time at Northern Essex. When asked what he took away from his years at Northern Essex, Miller said “I really learned how to learn at NECC.

“I did a lot of extracurriculars and it really helped me learn more and concentrate better.

“In high school I wasn’t an A student and at first at NECC I wasn’t either but by the end of my path I was an A student with honors.”

When asked if he had a job on campus while a student Miller said, “I worked for Student Life, I was a work study and I was also an orientation leader as well, and a student advocate.”

When asked if he would recommend Northern Essex to other people and if so why, Miller said “I definitely would because especially now people are getting forced to make such a big decision at such a young age and I think Northern Essex is a great place to learn your strengths and figure out what you want to do before you go on to a four year school.”