Tag Archives: Haverhill

Campus Life, Features

Opportunity Works has Moved In

 

Opportunity works its way to Northern Essex community

Northern Essex, as a community, has experienced hot weather, summer classes, and construction this past summer. The stairs for the main entrance at the Spurk Building are pearly white, classy, and ready for the upcoming semester. Adjacent to the Spurk Building is the newest addition to the NECC community: Opportunity Works.

In 1974, a group of Greater Newburyport-area residents began to discuss their concern about the lack of support services available to adults with developmental disabilities and their families.

According to their website, Opportunity Works began with “the vision of empowering people with disabilities to experience the freedom to live, work, and enjoy a valued role in society.”

Thirty nine years later, their vision is continued through dedicated workers like Melissa Merrow.

Melissa Merrow, Director of Program Operations, has been with Opportunity Works since 2009. She started off as the Day Habilitation Manager, then was promoted to Director of Specialized Day Services a year later.  Just this past June she was promoted again, this time to Director of Program Operations. She has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, Business Minor from Salem State University.

“We partner with many people in the greater Newburyport and Merrimack Valley area,” said Merrow. “For example, our individuals volunteer at various churches and food pantries in the area. Volunteering gives them a sense of giving back to the community and also the confidence they need to obtain jobs in the community versus the volunteering.”

“We also visit local nursing homes monthly as a ‘Random Act of Kindness’ day! We go over and play cards, talk, enjoy their company, fulfilling for both agencies! By our individuals getting out into the community more it also gives the public a better understanding of who Opportunity Works is and what we do. We ensure people are reaching their maximum independence through personal and professional interests.”

Their vision, according to the website, is to set “leading standards of excellence among individual service providers in supporting people with disabilities and their families, empower the people we serve to fully achieve personal growth and a valued role in society, promote a positive and supportive work environment for employees, realize planned growth of existing programs, while ensuring our commitment to our core values, engage the community in supporting Opportunity Works to achieve our mission.”

Merrow also mentioned how Opportunity Works has many volunteer sites. These include things like the new “Special Stars” dance program this month. There’s also an annual International Week, where each program room is a different country, allowing members to “travel the world,” and a Holiday Bazaar, where donations received help the individuals make crafts and buy gifts for their families for the holiday season.

“We offer the Project Search program, there are only two in the state of Massachusetts. We are now offering college classes at NECC for our individuals,” says Merrow. Opportunity Works has two locations, in Newburyport and Haverhill. The Newburyport location is at 10 Opportunity Way, Newburyport, and the Haverhill location is located at 671 Kenoza Street, Haverhill.

 

Features

Please Don’t Feed the Geese

 

Geese are creating a nuisance for the groundskeepers

 

Traffic comes to a stop on Kenoza Street more and more often these days to let the geese cross the road.

“There’s a good amount of geese. I think there’s two main groups,” says Steve Shepard, who works for the NECC Grounds Department on the Haverhill campus. Shepard thinks that the problem has gotten worse this year.

A group of geese is actually called a gaggle.  According to the Mass Wildlife website, gaggles of geese have been passing through for centuries along their natural migration route.  Throughout the ’60s and ’70s, a relocation project was begun to move the geese further inland, apparently for hunting purposes.

Since then, the availability of secondary food sources and changes in weather patterns have caused a change in the behavior of the geese.  While some groups still fly south for the winter, many geese have found that is no longer necessary and have become year-round residents of many of the nesting grounds that they populate.  

Since each full grown goose can produce as much as a pound of droppings each day, sanitation problems can develop in areas where the population is particularly large or bold, and once geese become established in an area, they are reluctant to give it up.

“The geese have been causing trouble with (the athletic fields), too,” said Shepard. “They seem to be getting used to our tactics.  Like, even the decoys don’t work, they just walk right by them sometimes.”

Evidence of this can be seen in the form of droppings all along the athletic track, just mere feet from where a styrofoam coyote watches on. “We’re trying everything, everything short of air horns,” said Shepard.

When asked about how they prepare the athletic field before a game, Shepard said that they use leaf blowers for both the grass and the sidewalks, but sometimes they have to resort to shovels to clear the mess.

The geese make their home at the Haverhill reservoir just across Kenoza Street but they have found abundant grazing available on the NECC grounds. “It’s between here and around where the reservoir is.  I believe they have some sort of sound cannon that they can use to push them, and then they usually come back here… so it’s kind of us sending them back and forth to each other.” Shepard laughed.

Shepard said that he thinks the school will have to do some research to find out what other people are doing.  “We definitely have to change our tactics. They’re getting used to everything,” he said. “We don’t want to hurt them, but we don’t want them in places where they cause a problem, or traffic, too.”

Currently, there is only one chemical treatment on the market approved to deter geese.  One company in Everett provides a dog handler and a border collie to patrol the grounds and chase the geese away for a starting rate of $10,000.  

The hope is that with the beginning of the school year bringing an increase in human activity around campus, the geese will be more reluctant to spend their days here.  Shepard asks that you please do not feed them.

Shepard said, “I’ve been here two years now and I didn’t think we were going to be at war with geese.  That wasn’t in the job description.”

For more information about geese, visit the MassWildlife website at http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/.

 

News

Haverhill Mill Fire Brings Traffic to a Halt

 

The abandoned mill on Stevens St. just outside of Lafayette Square in Haverhill caught fire on Sunday evening around 5 p.m.

The mill had long been vacant and plans for redevelopment were under way. No injuries were reported.

Emergency vehicles closed the entire square off beginning at about 6:15 pm. Crews from many surrounding towns responded to the eight-alarm blaze.

On Monday, many NECC students mentioned being redirected in traffic and seeing the smoke from miles away all Sunday night.

Residents in the surrounding area lost power for several hours beginning at 7 pm.

Firefighters were still on the scene Monday morning and were expected to remain through Monday and even into Tuesday, if needed, to ensure that the fire cannot flare up again.

Neighboring homes were evacuated amid claims that the siding on the fire side was “melting” according to one spectator.

More pictures and information will be posted on the website as it becomes available.

Arts and Entertainment

HC Media Radio Plays Your Music

 

Exciting opportunities for unsigned local music artists are at HC Media, also known as Haverhill Community Media.

Recently launched is their radio station, which gives opportunities to musicians who want to get their music out into the airwaves for free.

Matt Belfiore, Director of Operations at HC Media and adjunct faculty at NECC, shared with other staff members the idea of doing something more audio-oriented in contrast to their traditionally visual-oriented televistion programs.  For a few years they had been thinking of doing something like newscasts or playing top 40 music hits.

“Something about it just never clicked, and I never really liked the idea of it all that much. . . so I got the idea to do something more like an alternative rock radio station … geared toward unsigned local and semi-local acts,” said Belfiore.

Brian Hough, multimedia developer at HC Media, put together the mechanics of what would become HC Media Radio.

“Basically, it’s set up with an open source software called Shoutcast which is really popular in the independent radio world,” he said.

“We kind of modified it just a little bit to suit our needs. We set it up  over on a new server that we had, we are able to broadcast mp3 files from our server directly out of the building to the website and wherever else.”

Deciding on content was no issue for Belfiore, who was once in a garage band back in the ’80s and ’90s. With a deep appreciation for local music, he reached out to a few people he knew who play in bands.

“I think we started with like three bands, and then within a month and a half, we’re up to 26 bands now — meaning we’re up to a couple hundred songs. Obviously we want more, and the idea is to get more bands,” said Belfiore.

The only criteria to get airtime is that the music has to be unsigned with no royalties.  It’s a pretty sweet deal for local bands who want to get their music out there to a larger audience, and it’s free.

“We launched it before we really had any sort of format,” said Belfiore. “I’m a big believer in do-it-yourself stuff, and maybe it goes back to my old rock and roll garage punk days … it’s like, don’t worry about learning how to play, just pick up an instrument and do it and eventually you’ll figure it out.”

Having the station available, even if it’s not perfect, gels perfectly with the sort of content it’s presenting.  So many amazing local bands have unsigned music they’ve worked so hard to produce, and it should be shared and enjoyed. Young musicians don’t always have the money for huge recording contracts or ways to distribute their music among large amounts of people.

HC Media Radio is an amazing new medium to sate the public’s desire for new refreshing music while simultaneously helping local artists be heard.

Shawn Smith, a recent NECC graduate who attended Belfiore’s class a few years ago, did an internship at HC Media.   Since his internship he has become a part-time staff member and has become the to go-to guy for the radio station.  Smith does most of the programming for the songs and does little blurbs for the radio station in between songs, along with some rudimentary taped deejaying.  There has not been any live deejay work yet, but that is a definite possibility.

“What we’re working at next is we want to do live deejaying. We don’t want it to just be one person. We just recently hired a training coordinator here that teaches people how to be a deejay,” said Belfiore. “You could come in, learn how to deejay, then come here, volunteer for an hour and pick the tracks that you want to play. We’ll record it live, you can come in here and be a deejay for an hour, man.”

It’s an amazing volunteer opportunity to showcase different music and different tastes. It gives the ability to play the music someone thinks is really cool. They can make that time slot their own, putting an individual stamp on the airwaves.

The radio station can only continue to grow with new musical content; it needs more local music. Any musician interested in submitting their work can do it in multiple ways. They can give HC Media a call at (978) 372-8070, send a message to the HC Media Radio Station’s Facebook page at facebook.com/HCMediaRadio or fill out a contact form at HaverhillCommunityTV.org. The other option is to drop off a CD or music files at HC Media’s physical address, which is 60 Elm St. Haverhill, Mass.

 

News

NECC Spring Jam

 

Spring Jam was held on the quadrangle on the Haverhill campus on Wednesday, April 15.

Club tables were set up to hand out different information to the students to make them aware of what goes on on campus and what they can get involved in. They had information regarding health, volunteering and fun stuff activities as well.

The student Senate held a hula hooping contest, where students could win little gifts for participating and chatting with student senators who were there working the event.

Kim Daigle, a paramedic student said, “It’s fun talking to new students and potentially new senators. I love being involved and I would love to get the students as passionate as I am — Spring Jam was the perfect place to do that.”

Along with the hula hooping contest, the Sport and Fitness department held a couple different activities. They held a limbo contest as well as a ladder ball competition. Donna Passemato, an exercise science major said, “its good to get out and get some fresh air. Plus you can have fun playing games and maybe get a little bit of a workout. “

Student Engagement passed out free cotton candy — The students seemed to enjoy this because the people making the cotton candy were absolutely covered in it from head to toe. Ari Chiklis and Kadee Tapley both who work in the student engagement center had the cotton candy in their hair.

Most of the clubs on campus were there so students could learn about what they do and how to join them. One of the clubs that put on a special talent show was the Community Outreach Club — they had an array of performers, some a little more controversial than others, but overall it seemed everyone watching the show enjoyed it

Kristen Curry, a general studies student said, “I really enjoyed the show, they had some gutsy people to get up there and sing — I could never do that.”

Curry was watching the show while waiting for her foam finger that was getting her name put on it in bright graffiti. A few students were upset that they waited in line and were not able to get a foam finger because of the high school students visiting for the “College for a Day” event.

Daigle said, “I saw a few people upset over that — they said it was not fair that they did not get them. They were pulled aside and a happy medium was accomplished.”

The Spring Jam event for the Lawrence Campus will take place on April 29 on the patio of the Dimitry Building.

Campus Life, Lawrence

Winterfest

 

With the accumulation of snow at the Lawrence campus over this semester, a lot of events had to be cancelled along with the school days, Winterfest being one of them.

Winterfest went on without a hitch on the Haverhill campus, but on the day that it was suppose to take place on the Lawrence campus, NECC and New England were walloped with one of many snow storms this year. The Student Engagement Center, along with the Student Senate, wanted the event to still take place, so they worked together to get the day rescheduled.

Ari Chicklis, program assistant, said, “I wanted the event to happen, I like the student engagement. I like how it brings people together therefore it needed to happen.”

At the event, just like in Haverhill, they had a nacho bar and a hot chocolate bar.
There were lots of games to play where students could win prizes and just have a good time and get to know other students. They also had name art, where artists would paint their names using paint and shapes as opposed to directly just painting a letter.

Rebecca Tienhaara, a high school student who is dually enrolled here at NECC, said, “Its awesome there is a bunch of food and games. Plus I get to talk to a few new friends.”

Tienharra said, “I love Winterfest. It is an awesome and free spirited event.”
One of the popular events at the Lawrence Winterfest was the Wii system set up to play winter games.

Joe Torres, a nursing student who also works in the gym at the Sports and Fitness Center on the Haverhill campus really enjoys helping out.
Torres said, “I really enjoy promoting fitness and exercise. I believe in trying to help everyone stay healthy.”

Campus Life

NECC Parking Lot

 

By Alex Dehullu

The NECC parking lot has seen better days. Students who had to pay for their parking pass are losing several parking spots because of excess snow. There has been minimal snowfall in the past two weeks, but the parking lots are still dealing with the after effects of the multiple large snowstorms that New England has recently suffered.

Michael Barry, a West Newbury resident, drives to his class every day and is not a fan of what the parking lot has come to.

“There are no lines anymore — people form their own spots with way too much room between cars. I can’t fit my truck into half of the spots because the cars on both sides left so little room in between,” said Barry.

This problem is shared by many other NECC students, and it forces students to park farther and farther away from the school.

In the summer, the long walk wouldn’t be too bad, but due to the unbelievable amount of snow, students must walk down the busy road with cars coming from both sides all the way to the sidewalk in front of C building.

Another NECC student, Andrew Wallace said, “I’m sick of this. If I show up to class anything but early I have to walk so far through the icy street in the freezing cold while cars drive by less than three feet away. At some point the school is going to have to finish cleaning the parking lot up.”

It’s obvious that NECC has put in a lot of effort to cleaning up the parking lot. Students see maintenance workers constantly cleaning sidewalks and the plows do their best to clear the lot of snow after each storm.

There are a couple of moves NECC could make to improve the conditions of their parking lot. One NECC student, Branscome Dubina, suggested, “they should spend some of the money we paid to park there to have snow removed, maybe free up some space for more cars and a decent walk way.”

If there are any more major snowstorms, the conditions of the parking lot may continue to decline. It will be interesting to see how the school will respond.

Campus Life, Opinion

Campus Cafe

 

By Jimmy Richards

Last year, NECC decided to remodel their cafe located in the Student Center, but many students are unaware of what it even has to offer. A majority of students said they didn’t even know where the cafe was located.

Kelsey Brown, a student attending for her first time at NECC said, “Well, I knew there was a cafe in the c building, but I had no idea about the remodeled cafe because no one ever told me about it.”

Many students are saying the same thing because they don’t know what’s going on around campus.

Jared Richard, a new student attending NECC said, “I knew about the cafe, but it’s just too far away for me to get there in between classes. I mean it’s nice, but who wants to hike there. All my classes are ten minutes apart, and it just leaves no time for me to get there.”

Richard also added, “Many students are busy learning in the C and B buildings which means access to the cafe is limited.”

Another student had suggested a different idea that may in fact help out the campus cafe.

Eric Perez, a two-year student attending NECC said, “Honestly, I feel like they should put better food in there. But as the people who work there, they are very nice, very polite and will help with everything. I just feel like there should be healthy things in there, and they should take the time to lower down the price because they are making a profit out of that.”

Perez also gave another valid point about the remodeled cafe.

Perez said, “I feel like there should be more guidance towards the cash register because everything is cramped together.”

Perez also said that the campus cafe is “hidden.”

Arts and Entertainment

Romantic Violin and Piano Concert at NECC

 

By Jessica Freeman

On Monday, Nov. 24, at 5:30 p.m. NECC held a concert, “Romantic Violin and Piano” on the Haverhill Campus in Building C, Lecture Hall A. The music was performed by George Kucera on violin and Alisa Bucchiere on piano.

Kucera, born in Prague, and a math teacher at NECC, says in regards to playing the violin, “[I] shouldn’t be doing this stuff.”

Kucera is passionate about music.

“The violin is my wife; I’m married to her,” said Kucera,

Bucchiere, a music teacher at NECC, said this is the first time she and Kucera had played together for a concert. Bucchiere is also involved with the music for the school’s upcoming production of “A Christmas Carol.”

The music for the evening consisted of songs played on the violin and piano, composed during the romantic period, spanning from the late 1700s to the early 1900s. Bucchiere, referred to the concert as a, “musical journey through time.”

The program was made up of 12 songs, including music from Tchaikovsky, Paganini and Chopin. Before each piece, Kucera gave an anecdote about the history of the song or information about the musical elements found in the song.

One story shared was about the third piece played titled, “On the Wings of a Song” by Mendelssohn. Bucchiere shared the story of how the song has been credited only to F. Mendelssohn, and that this may have referred to, the composer Felix Mendelssohn’s sister Fanny.

During this time period of the 1880’s Mendelssohn’s sister couldn’t have published music under her own name because she was a women, but that she was known to publish songs under this name.

Despite many European composers on the list, one American song “Banjo and Fiddle” by Kroll was included. Bucchiere said with the song’s upbeat tempo and fast pace, the only thing she could think of was, “a bugs bunny cartoon,” and that it was like a “cartoon chase” and “it’s a lot of fun to play.”

Many of the pieces played were not originally composed for the violin and piano, but were later translated to accommodate these instruments. One song, “Thasis” by Massenet, has been “translated for every instrument under the sun, except for the kazoo” according to Bucchiere. She said it sounds “most beautiful on the violin.”

Another song, “Mazurek” by Dvorak, was composed specifically for the violin and piano, and the two instruments echoed each other throughout the piece.

After the show was over, Nancy Nickerson, a teacher who works in the math department with Kucera, presented both of the performers with bouquets of flowers. Nickerson is involved in the school orchestra with Kucera. When asked about the show, Nickerson said, “the program was extraordinary,” and that “they’re both such professionals.”

Bucchiere said it was okay to have a small crowd and that it was better than a large crowd who didn’t care and didn’t really want to be there. Kucera was glad to see some of his math students came to the show as well.

Looking to the future, Bucchiere, says the next month is, “a month of concerts for her,” but that she hopes to have another performance with Kucera in the spring.

Arts and Entertainment

3D art on display around campus

 

 NECC students taking 3D foundations with adjunct art professor Dianne Pappas worked in small groups to create the artwork installations seen around the Haverhill campus.  

 “This is an advanced concept,”  said Pappas.  “It’s about creating an experience, or an environment.” 

Pappas feels it’s especially useful to the students to start experimenting with these concepts and challenges early in the semester.  

For more information, contact Dianne Pappas at dpappas.necc.mass.edu.