Darlene Beal, executive director of HCTV

When the members of the Board of Haverhill Community Television (HCTV) were thinking of creating scholarships for students who would go on to study communications, it didn’t take them long to decide they wanted to offer the scholarships to Northern Essex students. “We’ve had a really wonderful collaboration with Northern Essex for many years, and we’re thrilled to announce this scholarship which will help local residents pursue their dreams,” says Darlene Beal, executive director of HCTV.

Two $5,000 HCTV scholarships will be awarded to students who are residents of Haverhill and who are graduating from Northern Essex with a degree in Liberal Arts:Journalism/Communication Option or General Studies: Multi-Media Option and plan to pursue a four-year degree in communications. The first award recipients will be announced this spring.

The scholarships are not the only way HCTV is partnering with Northern Essex. For many years, NECC courses, such as Television Production and New Media, have been taught at HCTV’s Haverhill studios. The collaboration provides hands-on training on state-of-the-art equipment for NECC students as well as a steady stream
of volunteers for HCTV.

Courses are taught by two NECC alumni—Matt Belfiore, ‘93, chief operations manager at HCTV, and Ray Naroian, ‘96, an instructor at NECC who is also the video producer at Haverhill Public Schools.

“It’s nice when you can link the different schools,” says Beal, adding that many volunteers start at HCTV as young as 12 years old, then go on to Haverhill High School and Northern Essex.

Beal herself is a graduate of NECC (‘89). She attended Northern Essex in her mid-20s unsure of what she wanted to study. After some experimenting, she fell in love with English and journalism, and went on to earn a scholarship and transfer to Boston University where she earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism. “If it wasn’t for Northern Essex, I never would have gone to BU,” Beal adds.

Northern Essex provides lots of opportunities for its students, and the alliance between Northern Essex and HCTV is just one example of a successful partnership.

“The partnership with NECC is important because both HCTV and NECC share a belief in the value of education, want to engage our citizenry, and are committed to the community,” says Beal.

The deadline for applying is April 30, and here’s are details.