José Fuentes:
Fuentes is the Dr. Jerry Wesson Scholar of Honors Northeast, and international president of the largest honorary society in higher education in North America, Phi Theta Kappa. He was the winner of a $400 first-place Caldwell Award in the university division last spring for his essay on the immigration of Mexican Americans to north Texas. Fuentes has also been active in biological research. He presented his research at the April 2026 annual meeting of the Southwestern Association of Parasitologists meeting in Kingston, Oklahoma, and the April 2026 meeting of the Southwestern Association of Naturalists in Tyler, Texas. He is on his way to becoming an author on North Texas Mexican immigration in Touchstone, the collegiate journal of the Texas State Historical Association, and a coauthor of several scientific publications that will describe new species of coccidian parasites from reptiles as well as myxosporeans from fish in refereed parasitological journals. He is the second of two Fuentes siblings to have enrolled in honors here. Last year, he assumed the leading role as “Mel Casas” in our film about Hispanic art associations in San Antonio. He is a graduate of Mount Pleasant High School.
Jordan Krumrie:
Krumrie is a 2026 graduate of Mount Pleasant High School. She was a member of the student council, and an officer of HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America). She is fluent in German, as her family often visits Germany. Majoring in Biology, she is pursuing an independent research course this Fall semester, and her group has already encountered some unnamed fish parasites which may lead to publications.
Jaydy Martinez:
Martinez was a top 2026 graduate of Mount Pleasant High School. She was the president of HOSA, a member of the National Honor Society, the National Technical Honor Society and the Student Council. She is an award-winning artist, and a recipient of an EKG certificate. She will be presenting her research on traditional Mexican healing techniques at the fall meeting of the Walter Prescott Webb Society in Navasota, Texas. Martinez is the James and Elizabeth Whatley Scholar of NTCC, the top selection of the Honors Committee in the 2026 search.
Adam Richards:
Adam Richards is the 2026-27 Bill Glass Scholar of Honors Northeast and the Student Representative of the Great Plains Honors Council (GPHC). The GPHC is an association of 80 honors entities, colleges and programs, among universities and colleges in six states, from Nebraska to Texas. His life story includes a time of homelessness in Las Vegas, lost high school years, and a successful immigration and new start in Northeast Texas. For his work with the French Empire architecture in Texas, he won a Second-Place, $300 State of Texas Caldwell Award in the university division last spring in Irving, and recently, he won a $200 Portia Gordon of the East Texas Historical Association. Last year, he was the $400 winner of the Northeast Texas Poetry Contest with his work, “Northeastern Pine Curtains,” and the winner of the $200 Chitsey Award for the student in honors who most exceeded expectations. Last summer he played the part of Clemente Idar in our film, the brother of Jovita, and he won Stevenson Award for acting. He was a 2025 graduate of Daingerfield High School.
Johnathan Ventura:
Ventura is the sixth Russell-Mowery Scholar of Honors Northeast. This designation is reserved for students who have had a regional cultural influence. Ventura was the associate producer of our Caldwell-Award winning 2025 film, Chicano Thermidor, and served as the lead cinematographer last summer for our 2026 film on Jovita Idar. He placed second in the 2025 Northeast Texas Poetry Contest, winning $300, and third in the 2026 contest, winning $200. He has presented segments of our films in Georgetown, Irving, Nacogdoches, Texarkana, Kansas City, and the Mount Pleasant Library. He won a $200 Portia Gordon Award for chairing our student panel at the East Texas Historical Association, and he will chair our panel at the National Collegiate Honors Council in New Orleans this November. He was the winner of the 2026 spring Eckman Award for having the highest GPA in the ChemPsych Honors Seminar. Ventura was a graduate of Mount Pleasant High School, but he currently lives in Pittsburg.