By: Dr. Andrew Yox, NTCC Honors Director
Jalyn English was recently named the winner of the 2020 Chitsey Award, granted each year to the student of Honors Northeast who after their first semester, most exceeded expectations. The award comes with a $200 check.
The 2019 graduate of Mount Vernon High School impressed his professors in his first semester at NTCC as courteous, assiduous and highly attuned to class objectives. English was the producer of NTCC’s Caldwell-Award winning film on Adina De Zavala, and is an aspiring officer next year for Phi Theta Kappa.
The Chitsey Award has had a remarkably stimulating effect on other down-the-line student awards at NTCC through the years. Previous winners: Stephen Milburn (2013), Kelli Knepp (2014), Morgan Capps (2015), William Jones (2016), Cassidy Watkins (2017), Madison Blood (2018), and Daniel Landaverde (2019) have all moved on from the Chitsey to regional or national awards such as the Jack Kent Cooke, Leaders of Promise, and/or the Coca Cola Scholarships.
Honors Director, Dr. Andrew Yox notes: “Jalyn English, at first waitlisted by honors here, has become a rallying symbol for our honors program, Webb Society, and Phi Theta Kappa. Moreover, he received astonishingly good grades in the first honors seminar. He has a memory, as Dr. Mary Hearron likes to say, ‘like a steel trap.’ His classroom ‘with-it-ness’ has been exceptional.”
Phi Theta Kappa Director, Dr. Melissa Fulgham notes: “An active volunteer and participant in PTK chapter activities, Jalyn shows great promise for continued accolades and honors for the coming year. I’m excited to have him coming on board as a chapter officer. He is well deserving of the Chitsey Award.”
The award also honors a former patron of Honors Northeast, Elizabeth Chitsey (1918-2013). The Winnsboro-native had children and grandchildren who have served in the teaching profession in Northeast Texas, on every level, from pre-school, to college. Each year since 2012, her family has generously supported this award and other social functions of Honors Northeast.
Jalyn is the son of LaTrisha and Quincy English of Bogata, Texas.
