For their performance in honors at NTCC in relation to their peers, two award-winning scholars have won $100 checks. Sophomore Stephanie Hernandez, came out ahead among the sophomores, having made the best performance in the three honors seminars during her time at NTCC. Johnathan Ventura came in first among the first-year students for his performance in the spring “Chempsych” seminar, an interdisciplinary combination of General Chemistry II, and Introduction to Psychology.Honors Director, Dr. Andrew P. Yox, notes: “The Eckman winners for the spring of 2026 are very special in that they have not only excelled in classroom erudition, but have accomplished some major feats that have kept our college in the spotlight. Stephanie Hernandez has set two all-time NTCC records in her two years with us. She has won six cash awards for her scholarship— both in biology and history, and both on the state and regional level. And she has had three articles accepted for publication while a student at NTCC. She is now a member of Phi Theta Kappa’s All-USA Team— an elite group of twenty students in the nation. Ventura, meanwhile, was the editor who produced Chicano Thermidor, the college’s first feature-length film centered in Mexican American history, and its seventh Caldwell Chapter Research Award winner. The film evolved from Hernandez’s pioneering work with Tejano murals. The group Caldwell award, received this past year in Irving, Texas, represented an all-NTCC project that bested performances of other colleges and universities in Texas history. In this endeavor, Ventura played a central role, not only as editor, but as a cinematographer, and presenter of the film process.”An anonymous donor has funded now thirty-four awards at NTCC in memory of the late Richard and Joan Eckman. Richard Eckman was a long-time inventor for Dresser Industries, a signature Texas oilfield corporation. Many NTCC Eckman Award winners such as Verania Leyva (2019, 2020) Matthew Chambers (2017, 2018), Chesney Davis (2017), and Brenda Godoy (2016, obtained excellent transfers. A 2019 Eckman winner, Jordan Whelchel, won a full-ride to Rice University. NTCC’s lone fourtime Eckman-winner, Aaliyah Avellaneda, won a fullride scholarship to Southern Methodist University. Stephanie lives in Mount Pleasant and is the daughter of Hector and Nancy Hernandez. Johnathan resides in Pittsburg, and is the son of Felix and Blanca Ventura.
