Three students and one recent graduate of Northampton Community College have been selected for the All-Pennsylvania Academic Team, an honor that recognizes academic excellence among students attending community colleges. They are Diana Hernandez of Bethlehem , Raymond Herron of Easton , Lorna O’Farrell of Tobyhanna, and Evette Olszyk of East Stroudsburg . The award is sponsored by Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society for two-year colleges, and the Pennsylvania Commission for Community Colleges. The honorees were also nominated for the All-USA Academic Team. All-PA Academic Team members may be eligible for a special tuition scholarship to any of the 14 state-system universities.

The NCC winners (shown from l-r with President Scott:  Lorna O'Farrell, Evette Olszyk, Diana Hernandez, and Raymond Herron), along with student award winners from community colleges throughout the state, their family members, college presidents, and other college officials attended an awards banquet held in Harrisburg on March 31.

Hernandez is a biology major who hopes to become a pediatrician. After moving to the United States from Puerto Rico as a high school student, she did not feel comfortable with her English skills, but she has achieved a 3.6 academic average in a demanding curriculum, while helping her aunt with child care and household responsibilities, working in the College’s admissions office, serving in the Student Senate, and being active in the Hispanic-American Cultural Club. She has been a volunteer at a local soup kitchen and appeared in a play produced by Touchstone Theatre, also assisting as a translator. In recommending Hernandez for the All-Pennsylvania Academic Team, Frank Pologruto, director of student life at NCC, praised her optimism, wit and intellectual prowess, noting that she has the ability to “quickly understand complex issues and make appropriate recommendations.”

Herron is a single father who has maintained almost a perfect grade point average while raising six children and helping his father in his automotive repair shop. He is majoring in computer information technology, specializing both in networking and in computer security. He says that “being able to provide his children with everything they will need to succeed in their education and life” is what motivates him to do his best. In addition to excelling in his studies, Herron is an active member of Phi Theta Kappa, an international honor society; a graduate of the NCC student leadership development program; and a member of NCC’s Outdoors Club. He has been involved as a volunteer with Head Start and Community Services for Children and the Wilson Summer Swim Team.

As an outstanding student, dedicated mother and grandmother, and community volunteer, O’Farrell has served as a powerful role model for other students at Northampton Community College’s Monroe Campus. She returned to college 30 years after graduating from high school to change careers from emergency medicine to teaching after being injured on the job as a paramedic in New York City. She says “raising three children, two in the military and one in city service” has made her feel as though she “has done well guiding exemplary and honorable citizens.” She “would like to take that experience and success into the classroom.” She has served as president of the student Education Association on the Monroe Campus, as a member of the diversity taskforce, and as president of the Beta Beta Chi chapter of Phi Theta Kappa. She has also done tutoring in area schools, served as co-leader of a Brownie troop, and volunteered on the Eastern Pennsylvania EMS Council Critical Incident Stress Management Team.