Smith (left) is pictured with representatives from The Eagle at the 2019 TIPA conference.
Northeast Texas Community College associate professor Mandy Smith was recently named the 2019 Charles “Chuck” Choate Memorial Adviser of the Year by the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association (TIPA). This is the top state award for college and university journalism advisers and is designated for those who “go the extra mile in teaching and advising.”
Smith, NTCC Associate Professor of English and Journalism, was nominated by members of The Eagle newspaper staff earlier in the year. The lengthy process included an application and collecting numerous recommendation letters.
“Mandy winning the Charles T. Choate TIPA Adviser of the Year Award showcases her passion for journalism and students. This award recognizes her hard work for the Eagle year after year,” Daniel Sanchez, Assistant Adviser and former Editor In Chief of The Eagle, said. “I have known Mandy for five years and if there is something I've learned about her in this short time is that she does not stop...she doesn't stop teaching and she never quits when it comes to her students. You'll find her working with students in and out of the classroom and often times teaching them valuable real world skills in journalism. Mandy is part of the faculty who make NTCC a great college, she goes the extra mile in teaching and advising.”
Before taking over The Eagle as lead adviser, Smith worked on the newspaper as an NTCC student. She has taught full-time with NTCC since 2006. The Eagle has received hundreds of TIPA awards and accolades under her leadership. NTCC journalism students continue to produce a quality campus newspaper in addition to an annual literary magazine, Lagniappe.
"Mandy deserves every inch of recognition for this award. 'Quit' is not a word in her dictionary, and apparently neither is 'sleep', because she's willing and ready to sacrifice it at any given moment for The Eagle," current Editor In Chief, Elisabeth Lively, said. "It's an honor to be taught true, honest journalism by the one and only Mandy Smith, the real Lois Lane. Everyone has that one mentor in the life that they will always lookup to and never forgot. I already know that Mandy will be that person to me."
The award was set to be announced at the 2020 TIPA Conference in Corpus Christi in March, but the event was cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns.
“With the cancellation of this year's TIPA Spring Convention, we did not have the opportunity to publicly recognize and honor the 2019 Charles "Chuck" Choate Memorial Adviser of the Year,” Fred Stewart, TIPA Executive Director, said in an e-mail to announce the honor. “The recipient (Smith) has been involved with TIPA as a student journalist on the campus newspaper, then as the first student to serve an internship in the TIPA Central Office, and now as an adviser.”
Smith admitted she was humbled and surprised to learn she was the Adviser of the Year recipient.
“I know that other advisers from across the state also spend countless hours working with their students. The fact that I was nominated by my student newspaper staff makes this recognition especially rewarding. This award is shared with all of my students both past and present who have given me the opportunity to work with them over the last few years to produce a solid, reliable newspaper for our NTCC campus community," she said.
You can follow The Eagle at facebook.com/ntcceagle and Instagram @NTCCeaglenewspaper.
