Everything Nac

A pair of Stephen F. Austin State University public history graduate students have joined with NIBCO, a 111-year-old valve, fittings and flow control products company with 10 manufacturing plants throughout the U.S., Mexico and Poland, to research, design and create an exhibit to celebrate the 75th anniversary of NIBCO’s Nacogdoches plant.

Graduate students Laura Turner and Amanda Saylor, both from Nacogdoches, built the exhibit in the plant with help from Sheri Howard, NIBCO’s Nacogdoches plant manager. Howard reached out to Carolyn Spears, Stone Fort museum curator, and Dr. Perky Beisel, SFA associate professor of history, and asked for their assistance in creating an exhibit to highlight NIBCO’s accomplishments during the past 75 years.

As the project developed, Beisel knew it would be an ideal learning opportunity for Turner and Saylor, who began work of the exhibit this fall. During a three-month period, the students drafted designs for the exhibit, handled communications and logistics, and planned how the exhibit would “flow” for attendees.

“This project is service-learning at its best,” Beisel said. “I’m thrilled that Laura and Amanda had this opportunity to work alongside an established company like NIBCO and learn how to create an exhibit that pays tribute to the milestones its employees have accomplished while celebrating the longevity of NIBCO’s longest-operating manufacturing facility in the NIBCO family.”

Turner and Saylor scanned through hundreds of NIBCO photos and historical documents from the past 75 years. The exhibit includes photographs, samples, publications, memorabilia and other items related to the people, products and places associated with NIBCO Nacogdoches.

“It was a great opportunity to work with NIBCO and the community in designing and building the exhibit for them,” Saylor said. “The project involved all of us from start to finish, and Sheri and the other NIBCO employees helped us tremendously.”

Howard said she was thoroughly impressed with the work Turner and Saylor accomplished. “Laura and Amanda learned more about the valve industry than they ever wanted to as they carefully sorted through our collection and picked things that would paint the best picture of life at NIBCO,” Howard said.

The exhibit is free and open to the public.

By Emily Brown, marketing communications specialist for Stephen F. Austin State University.

State Sen. Bryan Hughes will offer Stephen F. Austin State University’s commencement address during SFA’s fall graduation ceremonies Saturday, Dec. 16, in Johnson Coliseum.

Hughes is serving his first term in the Texas Senate, representing the 16 counties of Senate District One in Northeast Texas. Previously, he represented District Five in the Texas House of Representatives for seven terms.

He has received numerous awards for his work in the Legislature, including the Taxpayer Champion Award from Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, the Horizon Award from Texas Right to Life and “Defender of the American Dream” from Americans for Prosperity.

Hughes, a native of East Texas, attended Tyler Junior College and graduated cum laude from the University of Texas at Tyler in 1992 with a Bachelor of Business Administration in economics. Hughes is the first member of his family to receive a bachelor’s degree.

He later attended Baylor University School of Law and received his law degree in 1995. Hughes served as a law clerk to U.S. District Judge William Steger of Tyler from 1995-97.

Additionally, Hughes is a small businessman, church leader, Red Cross disaster relief volunteer, and active in civic and community organizations.

Candidates from SFA’s James I. Perkins College of Education and College of Fine Arts will participate in a 9:30 a.m. ceremony. Candidates from the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, the Rusche College of Business, the College of Liberal and Applied Arts, and the College of Sciences and Mathematics will participate in a 2 p.m. ceremony.

An estimated 976 degrees will be awarded, including 842 bachelor’s degrees, 132 master’s degrees and two doctoral degrees. More than 200 students will graduate with honors, including 76 cum laude, 63 magna cum laude and 64 summa cum laude. Twenty-eight students will graduate with the university scholar designation.

Master’s and doctoral candidates will graduate with their respective colleges, and Hughes will provide the commencement address at both ceremonies.

By Kasi Dickerson, senior marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.

The SFA Percussion Ensemble and Steel Band, both directed by Dr. Brad Meyer, will perform their annual “Percussion in the Pines” holiday concert at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 4, in Cole Concert Hall on the Stephen F. Austin State University campus.

The Percussion Ensemble will play several holiday favorites, including “Deck the Halls,” “Carol of the Bells,” “Sleigh Ride,” “Oh Holy Night” and “Silent Night,” according to Meyer, director of percussion studies for the SFA School of Music.

The ensemble’s performance of “The 12 Days of Christmas” is always a “hilarious and exciting way to end the first half of the concert,” Meyer said.

The second half of the concert will feature the SFA Steel Band, also known as the “Jacks of Steel,” performing numerous traditional and contemporary steel band tunes culminating in the crowd favorite “Pan Christmas,” Meyer said.

“This concert is a great, annual tradition that gets the university and community ready for the upcoming winter break,” he said. “Audience members are welcome to sing, clap and dance along during the concert.”

For anyone who cannot attend in person, the concert will be streamed live at: www.music.sfasu.edu/stream.php

“Students and audience members are encouraged to wear ugly/tacky holiday sweaters to create a festive and fun ambiance,” Meyer said.

This concert is a joint presentation of the College of Fine Arts and School of Music.

Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.

Local teachers took a bite out of education recently as they participated in “Book Bites,” a collaborative event organized by Stephen F. Austin State University elementary education and hospitality administration students.

For two nights, a range of children’s books focused on diversity were brought to life with food as students in courses taught by Dr. Lauren Burrow, SFA assistant professor in elementary education, and Jill Pruett, adjunct instructor in the School of Human Sciences, joined to produce the first “Book Bites” event on the university campus. Burrow invited local kindergarten, first, second and third grade teachers to attend. Many of the attendees serve as mentors to SFA students enrolled in field practicum courses.

“We came up with the idea to feed the mind, feed the belly and feed our hearts,” Burrow said. “As teachers, you have to keep learning and coming up with new ideas and ways to make your students and their families feel connected.”

Inspired by a former SFA student, this event served as a service-learning project for elementary education and hospitality administration students. Elementary education students researched and selected children’s books focused on diversity and worked in groups to create video book reports.

“Throughout this semester, we have been learning about the need for diverse books and the different ways these books help students feel included in the classroom,” Burrow said. “As a teacher, we want all of our students to feel valued and appreciated in the classroom. It’s one thing to say it, but if you look around the classroom and you don’t see books or posters that look like you, or people are not speaking your language or celebrating your religion, you don’t really believe it.”

Elementary education students also created lesson plans to accompany each book and had examples for event attendees to review and take home.

“Teachers came to have a bite of a book and a bite to eat,” said Samantha Mark, Huntington early childhood through sixth grade senior. “The food correlates with the topic of the book, and our topic is diverse characters and authors. This teaches children diversity so they can see themselves in the book they are reading.”

Hospitality administration students in a management of meal production course selected and cooked meals based on the various book themes, which included Hispanic heritage, special education, religion, race and more. Food ranged from chips and guacamole, rainbow Rice Crispy treats, and spaghetti nests with mozzarella, to chicken and dumpling soup, pumpkin chocolate chip mini muffins and more.

“Our students brought books to life with food. They found recipes that support the book’s theme and prepared and served dishes to elementary education teachers from local schools,” Pruett said.

During the event, various tables were displayed with food and books in the Culinary Café, and each table represented a kitchen group and diversity theme. For example, one table used the book “It’s Ramadan, Curious George” by Hena Khan and H.A. Rey to celebrate diverse religions, and the correlating dishes were frozen chocolate-covered bananas and lamb meatballs with dates and carob molasses.

“This really is applying everything we’ve been going over such as how to select a standardized recipe and locate resources,” Pruett said.

Hospitality administration students learned to work within a budget, adhere to certain guidelines, practice sanitation methods, scale recipes and order ingredients. Most of the dishes were kid friendly to fit the elementary education program and curriculum.

“I was never a food guru before I took cooking classes, but to be able to transfer my knowledge and feed the public was pretty cool,” said Samantha Dibilio, Wylie hospitality administration sophomore.

Burrow and Pruett received a service-learning grant to host this event.

By Kasi Dickerson, senior marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.