Shown left to right are NECC Employee Recognition Award winners Kyle White, Shawn Donnelly, NECC President Lane Glenn, and Lizzie Casanave.

Three Northern Essex Community College employees, Kyle White of Groveland, Elizabeth “ Lizzie” Casanave of Arlington, and Shawn Donnelly of Manchester, NH, recently received the NECC Employee Recognition Award for the second quarter of 2019.

The Employee Recognition Award recognizes the many and varied contributions of the college’s nearly 700 employees.  Employees are selected each quarter based on recommendations from supervisors and co-workers.  Recipients receive a $150 certificate to the restaurant or mall of his or her choice.

A graduate of Pentucket High School, White has been a carpenter in the college’s facilities department for four years.

He was nominated for the award By Dan Blair, NECC’s athletic director, who praised him for his work in helping to redevelop and enhance the Sport and Fitness Center on the Haverhill campus.

“Kyle’s efforts helped the athletic program save roughly $5,000 in the conversion of the former fitness center into a multi-purpose room,” Blair wrote. “Kyle’s work doesn’t go unnoticed and we are grateful for his support and assistance.”

Donnelly, a graduate of Pinkerton Academy in Derry, NH, has worked as a maintainer in facilities for three years. He was nominated by Gretchyn Gallagher, a tutor in student support services, who noted that when the Writing and English Skills Center moved from Franklin Street to Amesbury Street it was quite chaotic and Donnelly helped minimize the chaos.

“There were constant changes due to scheduling, construction, and juggling of many different departments relocating at the same time. Shawn has a service-oriented approach to his job, and continuously checked in with us to ensure that we had everything we needed for the center to run smoothly,” she wrote. “Shawn has a consistent high work standard, and he is always friendly, cooperative, and courteous to every individual on campus.”

For 13 years, Casanave has been a part-time faculty member teaching philosophy at Northern Essex. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy/Religion and World Perspectives from Principia College and a Master of Arts in Critical and Creative Thinking from UMass Boston. She attended a variety of graduate classes at Harvard Extension School, University of Texas at Dallas, and University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Casanave was nominated by Sharon McManus, director of professional development, who praised adjunct faculty fellows Casanave and Kathleen Bartolini for their work in the Center for Professional Development.

“This role was created to provide support to adjuncts, who often feel disconnected from the college community. Kathleen and Lizzie grew the program from scratch, based on their own ideas as well as the research they did regarding what other colleges do to support adjunct faculty,” McManus wrote.

The nomination was supported by Bartolini as well as Kim Burns, dean of academic innovations and professional development.