Everything Nac

Beginning the week of Sept. 18 through Friday, Nov. 17, Stephen F. Austin State University’s Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture will host NacogdoTREES, a free, community-wide contest celebrating the natural beauty of Nacogdoches.

“The goal of the NacogdoTREES is to highlight the importance of urban and community trees, raise awareness of their ecological benefits, introduce the community to the field of forestry and encourage citizens to spend time outdoors,” said Sarah Fuller, outreach coordinator for SFA’s Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture.

The competition includes categories for largest tree circumference, largest crown, tallest tree, best shade tree as well as best tree overall. To teach some of the basic forestry measurements, such as tree height and crown spread, college faculty members also developed videos available on the competition webpage that guide participants through the process.

“Keep in mind that it’s not just all about numbers and measurements,” said Dr. Shelby Laird, SFA assistant professor of forestry. “The best overall tree may be the tree with the best story, the most fans or simply just the most beautiful. We really hope that NacogdoTREES will encourage people to get out to some of our amazing city parks and recreation areas on campus.”

The competition also will serve as a learning opportunity for beginning forestry students at SFA. Students enrolled in Laird’s course, Careers and Competencies in Forestry, will execute technical measurements needed to determine the winners of those categories. Laird said she also hopes the competition will provide insight into what specifically endears individuals to certain trees, and provide baseline data for future research.

Trees eligible for submission must be located on the SFA campus, properties managed by Nacogdoches Parks and Recreation or on your personal property. For competition guidelines and entry form, a list of prizes, as well as area maps and resources, visit forestry.sfasu.edu/nacogdotrees.

During the past 10 years, the Gilbert I. “Buddy” Low Scholarship Program has covered the cost of tuition and fees for several San Augustine High School graduates to attend Stephen F. Austin State University.

Those involved with the scholarship program recently celebrated a decade of promoting student success with a luncheon that brought scholarship donors, current and past scholarship recipients, and SFA administrators together.

Low, who graduated from SFA in 1954 and is a trial attorney with Orgain Bell & Tucker in Beaumont, credits his San Augustine teachers with preparing him for the rigors of higher education.

“When I got to SFA, I did well because of the quality education I received from my teachers in San Augustine,” Low said. “I had a job on campus and did pipeline work — hard, hot work — and saved during the summers to pay for my education. I started the scholarship program because I wanted to help students like me who really couldn’t afford to go to college be able to attend SFA and concentrate on their studies.”

Low’s pay-it-forward approach has helped 31 SFA students achieve their dream of higher education.

“During the past decade, we have selected three scholarship recipients per year to join this elite group of student leaders,” said W. Frank Newton, president and chief executive officer of the Beaumont Foundation of America, which administers the scholarship program. “From year to year, the recipients become mentors and support the subsequent year’s recipients, thus continuing the cycle of academic success.”

The scholarships are awarded based on financial need as well as potential for academic success in college. Interested students are screened by the school district and participate in an interview with representatives of the Beaumont Foundation of America.

“If not for this scholarship, I don’t think I would have been financially able to attend college,” said Ben Eberlan, 2014 San Augustine High School graduate and accounting major at SFA. “While the scholarships provide the funds to help us attend college, there is a tremendous support system in place, as well, that helps ensure our success. Everyone from university administrators to faculty members is vested in helping us graduate. If we need help, we get it.”

Twelve scholarship recipients were present at the luncheon along with eight SFA administrators, including SFA President Dr. Baker Pattillo; Dr. Steve Bullard, provost and vice president for academic affairs; Jill Still, vice president for university advancement; and Drs. Janet Tareilo and Mary Nelle Brunson, associate provosts.

“The 1.5-to-1 student-to-administrator ratio at today’s luncheon is a clear indicator of SFA’s commitment to the success of the students in this program,” Newton said. “Many of these administrators have spent time teaching and know that it’s not just the availability of academic resources that make students successful — it’s also about the relationship between the students and those they look to as leaders and mentors.”

Each scholarship recipient is eligible to receive up to $11,200 per year for four years of study at SFA. In addition to paying for tuition and fees, the scholarship also provides reimbursement for books and supplies.

“When I found out I was a Buddy Low Scholarship recipient, I was overwhelmed with joy,” said Cordestine Clifton, a 2014 San Augustine High School graduate and SFA kinesiology major. “Knowing that I had this backing from the program took so much weight off me and my parents. I can go to school now and concentrate on my studies and not have to worry about accumulating debt.”

Chelsea Heidbrink, SFA student success coordinator, manages all student aspects of the program.

“I work to ensure that the students are meeting the scholarship requirements, are engaging at the university, and I help to eliminate the barriers they may face in college,” Heidbrink said. “I advocate for the students and help them in any way I can so their journey at SFA is as smooth as possible.”

During the luncheon, Pattillo addressed attendees and acknowledged Low for his support in helping students from his hometown reach their academic potential.

“Buddy Low never forgot where he came from,” Pattillo said. “His generosity combined with his expectation of success has provided the opportunity for these students to live and learn in a student-centered environment. They have already proven to be leaders among students, and there is no doubt that they will go on to become leaders in their communities and professions.”

For questions about the scholarship program, contact April Smith, associate director of development at SFA, at (936) 468-5406.

By Donna Parish, assistant director of creative services at Stephen F. Austin State University.

The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music will present faculty members Christina Guenther and Ron Petti in a recital at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 26, in Cole Concert Hall as part of the Calliope Concert Series.

Guenther, professor of flute, and Petti, director of accompanying at SFA, will perform the program “Song and Dance” featuring works by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Franz Schubert, Grigoras Dinicu, Samuel Barber, Eugène Bozza, Philippe Gaubert and Eldin Burton.

The program opens with Bach’s “Hamburger Sonata,” which was written in Hamburg, Germany, in 1786. “While neither movement is technically a dance, the second, Rondo, is dance-like in character,” Guenther explained. C.P.E. Bach is the most famous son of the great Baroque master Johann Sebastian Bach and falls into the period between Baroque and Classical known as the Empfindsamer Styl (sensitive style).

“During this period, one can see, read, and hear what is known as Sturm und Drang (storm and stress) in visual art, literature and music,” Guenther said. “This is featured in proto-Romantic ways through subjectivity and freedom of emotion and expression.”

The program also includes Theobald Boehm’s arrangement of two Schubert Lieder – Der Lindenbaum and Ständchen, followed by Romanian composer and violinist Dinicu’s Hora Staccato. “Dinicu wrote this piece in 1906 for his graduation from the Bucharest Conservatory,” Guenther said. “A lively dance written in the Romanina hora style, it is a famous piece originally written for violin.”

The program continues with three songs that are not related, Guenther said, “but we find them to make a lovely set together; each of the three pieces has a title that means ‘song.'” The set features Barber’s Canzone, Bozza’s Aria, and Gaubert’s Madrigal. The recital concludes with Burton’s three-movement Sonatina.

“This piece was written in 1948 as a composition project while Burton was at the Juilliard School,” Guenther said. “It is his only published work and won the 1948 New York Flute Club’s composition contest. Burton’s only other known work is an unpublished flute concerto.”

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.

Playwright Donald Margulies’ “Pitching to the Star” will open the fall semester of the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Theatre’s student-directed plays.

Directed by Plano senior Cecily Maucieri, the one-act play will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 22, and at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 23, in the Downstage Theatre on the SFA campus. The play is about a writer who finally gets a good break for his Hollywood script and pitches it to the star of the pilot show, according to Maucieri. Promised control over something on which he’s worked long and hard, Peter finds his integrity and his storyline attacked every time the star makes a suggestion to completely change his script and make the lead character exactly like herself.

The cast includes Lufkin senior Jacob Carr as Dick; Needville junior Alex Duty as Peter; Windsor. U.K., American Theatre Arts student Sophie Todd as Lauri; Copperas Cove freshman Bailey Van Hecke as Jennifer; Leeds, U.K., American Theatre Arts student Keely Runton as Tyne; and Red Oak freshman Beau McAfee as Dena.

The production staff includes Jamie Carroll, Dallas sophomore, as stage manager; Marie Phillips, Lewisville senior, scenic designer; Jordyn Averitte, Baytown sophomore, costume and makeup-hair designer; Gabriel Penaloza-Hernandez, Austin junior, lighting designer; Victoria Medrano, Edinburg senior, sound designer; and Jessica Benson, Chandler senior, properties master.

Maucieri is a senior teacher certification student. Past SFA productions she has worked on include “Intimate Apparel,” “Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson” and “MacBeth.”

“Pitching to the Star” is recommended for mature audiences. Faculty production advisor is Dr. Inga Meier.

The Downstage Theatre is located in the Griffith Fine Arts Building, 2222 Alumni Drive.

Tickets are $4. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit theatre.sfasu.edu.

Dr. Flora Farago, assistant professor in Stephen F. Austin State University’s human development and family studies program, spent three weeks in Kenya working on various nonprofit projects during the summer.

While abroad, Farago worked with colleagues from Arizona State University, Drs. Beth Blue Swadener and Amy Papacek, to establish a U.S. branch of The Girl Child Network, an organization advocating for the education and rights of women and girls in East Africa. The U.S. branch of GCN will be named “Friends of the Girl Child Network,” and it will be primarily a fundraising branch supporting GCN’s efforts of empowering girls in Kenya to lead and learn.

Additionally, Farago met with GCN leaders and early childhood scholars in Kenya to lay the groundwork for an international research collaboration, Children’s Views and Voices. This collaboration will focus on children’s views of their educational experiences, their roles in their families and communities, and their vision for their future.

“The trip reiterated the importance of taking cultural context into account when discussing, teaching and studying child development,” Farago said. “I teach several child development courses at SFA and will be integrating my Kenyan experiences and lessons learned into the courses.”

Farago also volunteered with the Jirani Project, a grassroots, nonprofit organization dedicated to the education and support of vulnerable Kenyan children. The Jirani Project, co-founded by Swadener, provides homeless and orphaned children in Kenya the support needed for shelter, food, school tuition, clothing and basic medical care, according to jiraniproject.org.

“We collected donations of children’s clothing, books and other items and delivered these to the Jirani Project children,” Farago said. “Several colleagues and friends from SFA contributed. We also helped organize and sort books in the Jirani children’s and community library in Western Kenya in Kipkaren River, where the Jirani Project headquarters is located.”

Farago visited additional nonprofit organizations such as a women’s co-op/mothers’ self-help group and the BRIDGES program, which helps girls who have dropped out of school to obtain their secondary school diplomas. She also visited the Kangemi Primary School and volunteered in its special needs unit meeting with teachers and administrators to assess the school’s needs.

To learn more about GCN or FGCN, visit girlchildnetwork.org and friendsofthegirl.org.

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

Stephen F. Austin State University’s Bachelor of Science in human sciences with an emphasis in human development and family studies has been ranked as one of the top 20 most affordable online child development degree programs in the nation by affordablecolleges.com.

“This is a recognition of a lot of hard work on the part of the faculty members in the human development and family studies program, with the support of the School of Human Sciences, who have worked to better serve our students no matter where they live,” said Dr. Rachel Jumper, assistant professor in the human development and family studies program.

SFA’s program was ranked 18th in the nation. Affordablecolleges.com based its rankings on three measurement categories: financial, student success and program metrics.

This degree allows students who have completed courses at another higher education institution to complete the last two years of the degree at SFA. The program provides an in-depth understanding of growth, change and development of children, adults and families, and integrates a life span, multi-contextual and family systems approach. The HDFS major culminates with a 200-hour, hands-on practicum in the senior year.

“Our program emphasizes hands-on experiences working with children and families,” Jumper said. “Currently, a student in our program will experience several hands-on and community service projects throughout their major courses.”

In spring 2018 all required courses for a HDFS degree are scheduled to be online. At that time, it will no longer be necessary to have any courses at another institution, and a fully online bachelor’s degree in HDFS will be available to students at SFA.

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