By: Dr. Andrew Yox, Honors Director
For the sixth and seventh time in NTCC history, scholars of Honors Northeast have won Britt Poster Awards of the Great Plains Honors Council (GPHC). Aaliyah Avellaneda a first-year student, won in the social science division for first- and second-year students, while Quinones won in the STEM division (Science-Technology-Engineering-and-Medicine) for the same freshman-sophomore category.
There are only four Britt Awards each year in the lower division. The awards come with a $100 check and a special plaque. The GPHC encompasses some eighty honors programs in colleges and universities from Nebraska and Missouri south to Texas. The association, that promotes the regions’ uplift in honors education, dates back to 1975.
Avellaneda presented her Caldwell-Award winning work on Northeast Texas’ former state senator, Bill Ratliff. Quinones, a previous winner of a State of Texas Caldwell Award, presented her scholarship on infertility. Avellaneda showed how Ratliff functioned as a Texas Ticketsplitter, cultivating a mysterious and alluring political identity in an age of polarization. Quinones argued that infertility is an overlooked global problem that is getting worse, because of its unperceived, multi-dimensional nature.
Honors Director Dr. Andrew Yox notes: “I have been so impressed by the fierce work ethic of both Avellaneda, and Quinones. They have finely tuned schedules, and lives that cannot tolerate much in the realm of wasted time, or error. And yet for their poster videos, they suddenly lit up with so much verve and energy! It was so exciting to witness their excitement, and their mastery in scholarship. Their posters also were attractive, and compelling.”
Anyone interested in the work of these young scholars should feel free to contact the NTCC honors director, Dr. Andrew Yox at ayox@ntcc.edu.
