PIctured: Daingerfield Mayor, Wade Kerley, and NTCC Professor, Dr. Will McWhorter
By: Dr. Andrew Yox, Honors Director
The annual Northeast Texas Poetry Reading on Friday, 6 September at 11 AM will again occur at the Foyer of the Whatley Center for the Performing Arts on the Northeast Texas Community College campus. The public is invited for this free event, the seventeenth of its kind in as many years. As before, the Reading will feature the six readings of the highest ranked poems of the adult and student divisions, and a presentation of winning Northeast Texas images. Two speakers also will share their perceptions of our region, Daingerfield Mayor Wade Kerley, and the NTCC Computer-Science Professor, Dr. Will McWhorter.
Mayor Kerley has had an enduring relationship with community colleges and the arts. He was a graduate of San Jacinto college in music, and his son, attended NTCC and has become an Emergency Medical Technician Paramedic, working now at Titus Regional Medical Center. Kerley himself is also a purchasing manager at the Atlas Roofing Company. Will McWhorter received his Ph.D. in information science at the University of North Texas. He has taught at NTCC since 2010, and before that, at Texas A&M Commerce, and East Central University in Oklahoma. McWhorter has published articles on mindstorms, distance learning during the COVID era, geotagging, and robotics.
NTCC Honors Director, Dr. Andrew P. Yox notes that “seventeen years of celebrating our corner of the world has been apropos when we consider the amenities of land, and space, water and power, freedom and peace that we have enjoyed. Whether it is the amicability of our church-and-school towns, or the tranquility of the green pastures and quiet waters of our countryside, we have a special endowment. We are also very thankful this year for the support shown to us, by Karen Harmon, who is making our Texas-sized awards possible. We are grateful as well to two very busy individuals, Mayor Kerley, and Dr. Will McWhorter, taking the time to talk to us.”
The deadline for the poetry and image-submissions is noon, Friday, 30 August. Over $1,000 in Prizes will be awarded, including $400 for the best student poem. Send questions, poems and images to the NTCC Honors Director, Dr. Andrew P. Yox at ayox@ntcc.edu. Poems should address something of the character, culture or history of Northeast Texas. Images should try to capture something definitive or interesting about the area.
