By: Dr. Andrew You, NTCC Honors Director
The Northeast Texas Community College Honors Program is pleased to announce its Honors Students for the 2020-2021 school year. This includes nine Presidential Scholars and 11 Honors Scholars.
College trustees, administrators and faculty established Honors Northeast in the spring of 2007. Geared to attract top high school graduates and college students, the program has flourished thanks to a network of loyal supporters in and out of the college. Each year, NTCC honors students have attended and presented research at the Walter Webb Society of Texas (WWS), the Great Plains Honors Council (GPHC) and the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC). As listed on the Wall of Honor Page of the NTCC honors website (www.ntcc.edu/honors), NTCC honors students have won 26 State of Texas Caldwell Awards, nine regional Boe Awards, five regional poster awards, and on the national level, 16 Leaders of Promise, 14 Coca Cola Awards, three Hites Awards, two Pearsons, seven Guistwhite Awards, and 10 exclusive Jack Kent Cooke scholarships.
NTCC Scholars also have published 20 essays in refereed scholarly journals since 2009. They have exhibited six feature-length films at national meetings of the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC), the only honors program in the nation to feature a collaborative, creative project of this nature, every year from 2013 to 2018. Honors Northeast will again feature their film in the virtual conference this fall of the NCHC.
Presidential Scholars are the top scholarship winners who receive usually enough to pay for tuition, books and fees. Honors Scholars receive lesser amounts, but rank can be misleading as the second tier includes students those whose rise to distinction might be both recent and rapid. As the Honors Committee has limited numbers of Presidential Scholarships to award, the timing of a student’s application makes a difference. But all scholars participate in all NTCC Honors activities and seminars. The NTCC Honors Committee selects students based on academic performance, a personal essay and letters of recommendation. The program has averaged nine student trips a year. Since its beginning, generous community sponsors have financed free trips in the spring and fall, amenities, special award opportunities, and graduation gifts.
“Our student body at NTCC is diverse, and the range of talents, impressive,” notes Dr. Andrew Yox, Honors Director. “The honors program scholars are not necessarily the smartest students, but they are the creative vanguard -- publishing essays, winning poetry and poster contests, featuring their own films, appearing on the radio, and making honors and professional presentations each year. Because of the support they receive from donors, faculty and administration, our honors students are very competitive on the national level in terms of awards and scholarships.”
Aside from receiving a scholarship to attend NTCC, Honors and Presidential Scholars will enroll in three, six to seven-hour seminars during their two-year stay at NTCC. All honors students participate in the fall Northeast Texas Poetry contest, the spring McGraw Hill Poster contest, and submit abstracts, and papers for major state, regional and national presentations, awards and publications.
The list of 2020-21 NTCC Scholars are as follows:
Honors Scholars
Carolina Alcocer-Salas is a graduate of Chapel Hill High School where she was class president and president of the National Honors Society. She is now the 2020-21 President of Alpha Mu Chi at NTCC. She is a 2020 winner of Leaders of Promise, granted by Phi Theta Kappa and Coca Cola, and came in fourth in the 2020 Northeast Texas Poetry Contest.
Hannah Lynn Barnes was homeschooled and lives in Marietta. She is a winner of the STAR award of the Texas Phi Theta Kappa granted last summer, a Northeast Texas Image Award this fall, and also the national award, Leaders of Promise.
Cade Alan Bennett was in the National Honors Society, several varsity teams, and One Act Play at Paul Pewitt High School. He is the 2020 Cypress Bank Scholar of NTCC. He earned the star role as Boe Pilgrim in the upcoming film of honors, and won a fall NE Texas Image Award.
Gem Alyn Elmore is a sophomore from Winnsboro. She has presented work on the integration of Northeast Texas churches in Austin, and is on the program to present for the virtual events of the meeting of the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) this fall. Her work has been accepted for publication by the collegiate journal of Texas, Touchstone.
James Robert Dickson was homeschooled and is from Pittsburg. He works for Pittsburg Foundry as a graphic designer, and is a talented pianist.
Dorali Lopez Hernandez was in the National Honors Society, HOSA, and the Color Guard at Mount Pleasant High School. She served as both a cinematographer and actress in the Honors Northeast film project this past summer.
Jansen Mitchell Laney was the 2019 Valedictorian of Daingerfield High School. He also played center on the varsity basketball team and was involved as well in varsity baseball and cross country.
Jennifer Leyva was a member of the Spanish Club, HOSA, and Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America at Mount Vernon High School.
Maxime Risner was a top student at Winnsboro High School, who participated in the Work4College program at NTCC last summer, working in agriculture. She played the role of Patty Pilgrim in the summer film project, and helped as a cinematographer.
Brian Ramirez was a member of the National Honors Society, a band section leader, and a Book Club officer at Mount Pleasant High School. He is serving as both Unit Production Director and Producer for the Honors-Webb Society film on Bo Pilgrim.
Hilda Rodriguez was a member of the National Honors Society, the Student Council, and a secretary of HOSA at Mount Pleasant High School. She contributed to several scenes of the Bo Pilgrim honors script, and won $200 for her poem “Creo” in the NE Texas Poetry Contest.
Presidential Scholars
Aaliyah Merced Avellaneda was a member of the National Honors Society, the Color Guard, and HOSA at Mount Pleasant High School. She is the winner of a CTE Award for Principles of Law.
Jalyn Lance English is a sophomore from Bogata who is NTCC’s first winner of the James and Elizabeth Whatley Honors Endowed Scholarship for leadership, public service, and academics. He was the winner of the 2020 Chitsey Award, a 2020 STAR Award, and the producer of the State of Texas Caldwell-Award-winning film on Adina De Zavala.
Katelyn Cox Lester is a sophomore who was a missionary’s daughter in Tanzania. She is the winner of two Eckman Awards for academic excellence, a State of Texas Caldwell Award for her essay on historian, Walter Prescott Webb, a McGraw-Hill Poster Award, and a Northeast Texas Poetry first place award of $400. She is the college’s 3rd Dr. Wesson Scholar.
Sam Josiah Griffin is a homeschooled sophomore from Pittsburg who was the college’s 2019 Cypress Bank Scholar. He composed music for the Caldwell-Award winning film on Adina De Zavala, and won a 2019 Image Award, as well as a 2020 McGraw-Hill Poster Award. His work on Gene Autry has been included in the fall meeting of the NCHC.
Nallely Gutierrez was a member of the National Honors Society, the Leaders of Tomorrow, the Spanish Club, and the Rotary Interact Club at Mount Vernon High School. Her poem, “Las Manos de un Trabajador” won 2ndPlace and $300 in this year’s NE Texas Poetry Contest.
Israel Perez was a member of the National Honor Society, the All Region First Band, the Jazz Band, and HOSA at Mount Pleasant High School. He won an award blanket for AP world history, and is a certified EKG technician.
Maritza Quinones from Mount Pleasant HS is the first person in NTCC history to star in a Caldwell Award-winning film in which she also served by winning yet another Caldwell Award for her essay on the film’s subject. She is NTCC’s 2020 nominee the top student of the Great Plains Honors Council, and has won Leaders of Promise and McGraw Hill Awards.
John Rodriguez was a member of the National Honors Society, a drum major in the band, and a UIL standout at Mount Pleasant High School. He won several academic blankets in Spanish, was Rotary Student of the Month, and was last year’s Homecoming King. He played several roles in the summer film project and helped with several film interviews.
Jaidyn Thompson is a sophomore from Daingerfield who is currently the Texas Heritage National Bank Scholar of NTCC. She is a winner of a 2020 Leaders of Promise Award. She presented work last spring in Austin, and has been elected to present her essay on the case of trial lawyer, Harold Nix, at the meeting of the National Collegiate Honors Council this fall.
