Pictured are winners with History Faculty: Front Row: Fatima Fuentes, Erika Alvarado, and Davin Whatley: Back Row: NTCC history professors--Dr. Andrew P. Yox, Dr. Melissa Fulgham and James McGregor.
By: Dr. Andrew Yox, Honors Director
Expertise has its own rewards. In the case of history essays at Northeast Texas Community College, the reward might be something greater than an ‘A’. For the tenth straight year, the history professors of NTCC will feature the Bonnie Spencer Awards for the four best research papers in non-honors classes. This year there will be four winners with each obtaining $50 for their efforts.
The contest this year is especially beholden to a gift from alumna, Jessica Velazquez, who began her career as a publishing scholar at NTCC with an article about tractors and population in the rural counties of Texas in the mid-twentieth century.
Essays should be at least 1,000 words with correct historical citations. The essays should have been written for a fall-of-2024 or a spring-of-2025 non-honors-seminar history class at NTCC. Students interested in entering their essay into the competition should notify professors Fulgham, McGregor, Russo or Yox at mfulgham@ntcc.edu, jmcgregor@ntcc.edu, jrusso@ntcc.edu or ayox@ntcc.edu by 1 May 2025.
For questions about the rubric, or format, address one of these professors as well. The history faculty will determine the results.
Past prize winners have gone on to other opportunities and awards. Aubrey Watkins, A Bonnie-Spencer award winner two years ago, went on to become a Texas STAR Award winner. In 2020 and 2021, Carolina Alcocer-Salas and Fatima Fuentes first won Spencers, and then won subsequent Leader-of-Promise awards on the national level. The 2019 winner, Jordan Whelchel, later won a full ride to Rice University. The 2016 winner, Kassandra Martinez, went on to join Honors Northeast and received a free trip to present her winning paper on Cyclone Davis at the meeting of the National Collegiate Honors Council in Seattle.
The awards are in honor of Bonnie Spencer Harris who in 2002 started NTCC’s first history club, and in 2008 volunteered her time to initiate NTCC’s Webb Society film forays in Texas history. She now works as a nurse, and raises and sells Appaloosa horses in Camp County.
