By: Dr. Andrew Yox, NTCC Honors Director
Expertise has its own rewards, and in the case of history essays at Northeast Texas Community College, the reward might be something greater than an ‘A’. For the fourth year, history at NTCC will feature the Bonnie Spencer Awards for the best two research papers in non-honors classes. The first-place winner will receive $100, and the second place, $50. There will be an optional Honorable Mention Prize.
Essays should be at least 1,000 words with correct historical citations. The names of the author and mentoring professor should be omitted from the manuscript. Professors may nominate their top student essays, or students may nominate their own papers. The essays should have been written for a fall-of-2018 or a spring-of-2019 American history class at NTCC. Essays should be sent tomailto:areyes@ntcc.edu by Monday, May 6, 2019, at noon. For questions about the rubric, or format, email honors coordinator, Andrea Reyes at the above address or Dr. Andrew Yox at mailto:ayox@ntcc.edu. History professors here, along with a possible intervention by Bonnie Spencer, will determine the winners.
Past winners have gone on to other opportunities and awards. 2017 winner, Tonya Hammonds, has gone on to win several accolades with Phi Theta Kappa. 2016 winner, Kassandra Martinez received a free trip to present her winning paper on Cyclone Davis at the meeting of the National Collegiate Honors Council in Seattle. Tanika Santos went from the Bonnie Spencer to a Walter Cooper Award of Phi Theta Kappa.
The awards are in honor of Bonnie Spencer who in 2002 started NTCC’s first history club. She now works as an ICU Nurse at the Titus Regional Medical Center, and raises and sells Appaloosa horses in Camp County.
