The Northeast Texas Community College Honors Program is pleased to announce its Honors Students for the 2021-2022 school year. This includes eight Presidential Scholars and 13 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, NTCC honors students have won 28 State of Texas Caldwell Awards, 10 Boe Awards of the Great Plains Honors Council, seven Britt Poster Awards of the GPHC, and on the national level, twenty Leaders of Promise, 17 Coca Cola Awards, three Hites Awards, two Pearsons, seven Guistwhite Awards, and 10 exclusive Jack Kent Cooke scholarships.
NTCC Scholars also have published 22 essays in refereed scholarly journals since 2009. They have presented segments of 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, and now also in 2020 and 2021.
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, and special award opportunities.
“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 2021-22 NTCC Scholars are as follows:
Presidential Scholars
Aaliyah Avellaneda is our 2021-22 Dr. Jerry Wesson Scholar for having won both Eckman Awards in her freshman year, and becoming our top academic sophomore in honors. In her freshman year she won both a first-in-the-state Caldwell Award, and a Britt Poster Award (one of three freshman-sophomores of our region from Nebraska to Texas). Her work on “Texas Ticketsplitter,” Bill Ratliff, has recently been accepted for publication by Touchstone, the collegiate journal of the Texas State Historical Association. She also will be presenting this work at the coming meeting of the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) in Orlando.
Victor Diaz is a 2021 graduate of Mount Pleasant High School where he was a member of the National Honor Society (NHS) and an award-winning participant in Color Guard. He won the highest grades in AP Spanish, and made a series of award-winning Spanish language videos. He currently is the producer of NTCC’s Carroll Shelby film, developing the work’s trailer. He will be presenting his film work at the state meeting of the Walter Webb Society this fall.
Dorali Hernandez won a fourth-place State of Texas Caldwell Award for her pioneering work interviewing nurses: “The Progression of Medical Maintenance: The Story of Two Texas Nurses 1980-2000.” She presented this work at the Great Plains Honors Council, and will present a version of this work at the East Texas Historical Association (ETHA) this October. Her work is scheduled for publication with Touchstone.
Jessie Parchman is the first NTCC honors student to be simultaneously a senior in a public school—in this case, Chapel Hill. She is also the first high school senior we know of to present in a professional conference, as her paper on the sudden surge of medical dependence in the 1970s was included in the program of the ETHA this October. She made fourth in the state in the Future Health Professionals (HOSA) competition for Community Awareness, and has won numerous other UIL medals. For these awards, and as an avocation, she has conducted numerous scientific experiments relating to health, toxicity, and pollution.
Israel Perez is the premiere winner of the Russell-Mowery Perpetual Honors Scholarship for significant contributions to Northeast Texas culture and life. He was the 2021 film scholar for the Webb-Award winning work on Bo Pilgrim, and played the role of Lee Iacocca in the upcoming film on Carroll Shelby. He will be the first person in the history of the college, and perhaps in the state, to publish an article in the Texas Handbook, the main resource for Texas history. He will be presenting his work on Bo Pilgrim and the Protestant Ethic at the NCHC.
Hilda Rodriguez is the winner of the $200, 2021 Elizabeth Chitsey Award for the honors student who most exceeded expectations. Rodriguez was also a winner of a $200 poetry award last fall. Her work on Mexican immigration helped complete three scenes of the Webb-Honors film on Bo Pilgrim. She will present work on domestic isolationism, and the case of Esmeralda, a working-class Hispanic immigrant to Northeast Texas, at the NCHC.
John Rodriguez is our 2021-2022 Texas Heritage National Bank Scholar, and president of the Honors Student Council. He came in fourth in the 2021 McGraw Hill Poster contest, and presented at the Great Plains Honors Council, and Walter Webb Society. The journal, Touchstone, has accepted his essay for publication. He made substantial contributions in both acting and research to two honors films, on Pilgrim, and Carroll Shelby. Rodriguez will present his award-winning work on Hispanic Quietism in Texas at the NCHC.
Evan Sears is a 2021 graduate of Mount Vernon High School who excelled in dual enrollment courses, and was a member of NHS. Last summer he became the film scholar of NTCC’s Carroll Shelby film. He will present some of this work at the fall meeting of the Walter Webb Society in Nacogdoches. He tied for fourth for his poem about the Texas Cowboy in the 2021 Northeast Texas Poetry Contest, and won second-place for his image of his grandfather baling hay.
Honors Scholars
Cade Bennett is the Region III Vice President of Phi Theta Kappa in Texas. Our Cypress Bank Scholar in 2020-21, he is our current Gladys Winkle Scholar, as the lead Humanities major in honors. Bennett plays the star role both in our 2021 Webb-award winning film on Bo Pilgrim, and on our coming 2022 film on Carroll Shelby. He will be featuring his McGraw-Hill, Award-winning work on Texas-style capitalism, and innovation in the cases of Denton Cooley, Charles Mitchell, and Jack Kilby at the NCHC.
Daphne Bogenschutz is a 2021 graduate of White Oak High School, and a pitcher in NTCC’s softball team. She was a member of NHS, the Student Council, and the debate team. In high school, besides softball, she competed in varsity volleyball and power lifting.
Justin Brantley is a 2021 graduate of Pittsburg High School where he participated in the school’s Yearbook staff, and helped lead a community Veteran’s Day program, where he produced an audio-visual presentation of the event.
Jordan Chapin moved with her family recently to Winnsboro from the state of Washington. She was a member of the NHS, the Beta Club, and DECA. Her image of rays breaking through the clouds won third place in the recent Northeast Texas image competition. A talented actress, she played the role of Carroll Shelby’s second wife, Jan Harrison. She will be presenting work on the film at the fall meeting of the Walter Webb Society in Nacogdoches.
James Dickson presented his pioneering work on NTCC’s own Tom Seabourne at the 2021 Great Plains Honors Council. He was homeschooled in Pittsburg.
Maiko Estrada is a 2021 graduate of Mount Pleasant High School. He was a member of HOSA, the band, and NHS. He recently became the college’s 14th Cypress Bank Scholar, and participated extensively in the college’s tenth feature-length film on Carroll Shelby.
Skylar Fondren was homeschooled in Pittsburg, and is interested in journalism. She is a 2021 Leader of Promise winner, a preeminent award granted nationally by Coca Cola and Phi Theta Kappa. She played a number of roles including cinematographer, and assistant director in the Shelby film, and helped write an initial press release. She will help present the film at the fall meeting of the Walter Webb Society this fall in Nacogdoches. Her poem, “Hidden Gems of Northeast Texas” won third place in the 2021 Northeast Texas Poetry contest.
Ruben Guerrero is a 2021 graduate of Pittsburg High School where he was on the Student Council, UIL Speech and Debate, and the NHS. He served as a cinematographer in the coming Shelby film, and also played the role of Shelby’s heart surgeon, and supporter, Roy Cherryhomes. He will help present aspects of the film at the state meeting of the Walter Webb Society this fall.
Raul Leija is a 2021 graduate of Mount Vernon High School where he was a member of the National Honors Society, the Spanish Club, HOSA, and the Rotary Club. He acted and worked last summer on behalf of the Carroll Shelby film.
Amy Lopez is a 2021 graduate of Mount Vernon High School where she was a member of NHS, the Book Club, Interact, and the Spanish Club. She won a Rotary Scholarship.
Daisy Quinones is a 2021 graduate of Mount Pleasant High School where she participated in AP with WE, a special service learning program that connected high-performance Spanish language skills, with school improvement.
Brian Ramirez is the 2021-22 president of Alpha Mu Chi (NTCC chapter of Phi Theta Kappa), and the 2021 film director of the Carroll Shelby film. He is this first person in the history of honors here to win back-to-back first-place awards at our regional honors competitions, first with the 2021 McGraw-Hill Poster Contest, and then with the 2021 Northeast Texas Poetry Contest. He is also the winner of the Dr. Charles B. Florio Award for leadership while at NTCC. He will present work on the “Mozart Hypothesis,” relating to his extensive film work while at NTCC at the coming meeting of the NCHC.
Maxime Risner is our current NTCC Student Government Association President. She won a third-place Caldwell Award in her freshman year, and in came in second twice, both for the 2021 McGraw Hill Poster Contest, and in the 2021 Northeast Texas Poetry Contest, with a work entitled, “Foreign Land,” about her first encounter with Northeast Texas. During our COVID summer of 2020 her efforts with cinematography and acting filled in crucial gaps in the profile of needs connected with the Bo Pilgrim film. She will present her award-winning work on the decline of rural veterinarians in Orlando at the NCHC.
