Pictured: 2021winners 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 eleventh 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.
Essays should be at least 1,000 words with correct historical citations. The essays should have been written for a fall-of-2025 or a spring-of-2026 in a 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 .
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. Last year’s winner, Emma Mendoza, has gone on to several other awards with Phi Theta Kappa, and also regionally, winning a Britt Award of the Great Plains Honors Council this past March. Aubrey Watkins, A Bonnie-Spencer award winner three 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.
