Getting Blood from a Turnip, by Rene' McCracken, NTCC Agriculture Director

I think as a native Texan I have been privy to (and guilty of using) my fair share of ?old-timey sayings." In fact, my agriculture students at Northeast Texas Community College just love to ask for clarification of ones like ?86^th†the noise? or†?gobbldygook? or ?hottsy tottsy?or ?flapping your gums?.

One such colloquialism that I heard quite a bit growing up was ?You just can?t get blood from a turnip!?

Northeast Texas Community College will be closed on Monday, May 27 in observance of the Memorial Day holiday. Offices will resume regular business hours on Tuesday, May 28. In case of an emergency on campus during the closure, contact security at 903-563-1417.

The Northeast Texas Community College Foundation recently received a $500 gift to benefit a student majoring in fine arts. This scholarship, contributed by the Fine Arts Club of Mount Pleasant, is one of the longest running scholarships at NTCC (established 1985). Pictured, Sandra Price (center), Rosalie Chambers, and Joyce Thomas present the donation to Nita May, NTCC Director of Development (left) and NTCC President Dr. Brad Johnson. For more information on this or other NTCC Foundation Scholarships, please call 903-434-8115.

Louellen Lowe (right), East Texas Regional Director for Senator John Cornyn's office, recently met with Northeast Texas Community College President Dr. Brad Johnson†to discuss regional education and economic development needs.

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Recent STARR testing for Freshmen and Sophomores caused Junior and Seniors at Chapel Hill to be displaced.††Kristin French, Comunities in Schools coordinator at Chapel Hill Junior High and High School planned three days of activities for Juniors and Seniors.

The theme of the activities for juniors was getting ready for senior year. Mrs. Cristy Nolen, Family and Consumer Science teacher said, "Senior Camp" and that name stuck!††We wanted to get LOTS of work done, but have fun at the same time.

Bryan Wilson (center)†of Mount Vernon, was recently†presented with the J. Travis Jackson Memorial Scholarship during the 2013 GED graduation ceremony.†This $500 award is given by the Mount Pleasant Rotary Club in memory of Jackson, who was a long time adult educator in Titus County.†Making the presentation is Amy Hinton (right), President of the Mount Pleasant Rotary Club and Amy House (left), GED Instructor.

The Titus County Literacy Advisory Council recently honored 12 deserving†General Equivalency Diploma (GED) students from Northeast Texas Community†College by inducting them into the National Adult Education Honor Society†(NAEHS).†Those inducted were: (from left)†Andrew Jackson, Bryan Wilson, Donna Barton, Dagoberto Acosta, Clara Roberts, Gary Gaskin, Whitney Jarosh, Brandon McNeil, Olga Alvarez, Isai Adame, Jessica Simpson, and Justin McCaskill.

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The Northeast Texas Community College Foundation recently received a donation of $2,000 from the Northeast Texas Biker's Church. Pictured making the donation is: (from left)†Emma Dundee, Roger Keck, Dominic Crescimanno, James Aydelott, Cheryl Nichols, Kent Basinger, Jeff Martin, and Tasha Martin. Dr.