Everything Nac

Five geology graduate students within Stephen F. Austin State University’s College of Sciences and Mathematics received an honorable mention this month during the annual American Association of Petroleum Geologists’ Imperial Barrel Award.

“Their performance was excellent, and the team received honorable mention from a very distinguished group of judges,” said Dr. Wesley Brown, professor and chair of the Department of Geology.

The SFA graduate students, from left, Ryan Silberstorf, Robert Schoen, Cole Hendrickson, Jonathan Woodard and Jensen Angelloz, competed against teams from universities in Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama.

The AAPG Imperial Barrel Award Program is an annual prospective basin evaluation competition for geoscience graduate students from universities around the world, according to the organization’s website. University teams compete to win scholarship funds for their geoscience department and the international recognition that comes from competing or winning in the competition. The program is rigorous and contributes to AAPG’s mission of promoting petroleum geoscience training and advancing the careers of geoscience students.

He’s green. He’s lovable. He’s Oil Drop Oliver, and he’s helping more than 20 undergraduate Stephen F. Austin State University students increase awareness about the fuel, petrochemical and natural gas industries and the jobs and products associated with them.

Oil Drop Oliver was born at 8 a.m. on a Friday during a marketing, advertising and promotion class in SFA’s Nelson Rusche College of Business. Made of felt and polyester stuffing, Oil Drop Oliver serves as a loveable character that is clean and green.

Dr. Marlene Kahla, SFA professor of management, marketing and international business, explained how Oil Drop Oliver is part of a student-led project for the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers Recruitment Challenge.

In an effort to enhance its workforce development outreach activities and focus on attracting and preparing potential employees for the refining and petrochemical industry, AFPM collaborated with EdVenture Partners — an organization dedicated to developing innovative industry-education partnership programs — on a national college-student-based recruitment challenge.

While conducting primary and secondary research through focus groups and interviewing millennials from science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs, SFA students and community college students, the data suggested that people have a negative perception of the fuel, petrochemical and natural gas industries and viewed these industries as dirty.

The students created Oil Drop Oliver with the help of Dr. Mary Olle, an assistant professor in SFA’s School of Human Sciences, who sewed him together, to help alleviate the negative perceptions that often exist with the industry.

According to the students, Oil Drop Oliver helps cut through conversations to get to the call to action: “What’s so crude about oil and natural gas?”

The students’ idea for the project is to shed a positive light on the petrochemical and natural gas industries through communication with millennials using the animated character and social media.

“This project taught us how to work together as a class while under deadlines and pressure and how to create an effective advertising campaign that will hopefully help how people perceive the fuel, natural gas and petrochemical industries,” said Shakiria Wheat, junior strategic communication major at SFA.

In addition, the class created two promotional videos for the project and designed T-shirts.

The Stephen F. Austin State University College of Fine Arts will recognize four students during the presentation of the annual Dean’s Awards at 5:30 p.m. Friday, April 29, at The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.

Kaylee Jo Bruggeman, art education major from Katy, Mikayla Stillwell, music education major from Desoto, Allison A. Adams, music education major from Gladewater, and Taylor Dobbs, theatre major from Baytown, were selected by the faculty of their respective schools on the basis of their potential to further develop their artistic goals and serve as role models, according to Dr. A.C. “Buddy” Himes, dean of the College of Fine Arts.

The Dean’s Awards not only recognize the recipients for what they have already accomplished, but the awards are also designed to inspire them to reach deep from within to aspire to a higher level of excellence, Himes explained. The awards were established by the Dean’s Circle, an external support organization of community members founded in 2008 and “dedicated, in part, to nurturing potential young artists within the College of Fine Arts,” Himes said.

Bruggeman, who will receive the Ed and Gwen Cole Dean’s Award in Art, is working towards her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art Education. She came to SFA in the 2013 fall semester to explore different mediums with concentrations in sculpture, drawing and education. Over the course of her three years at SFA, she has developed a passion for highlighting the importance of art in children’s development. Bruggeman has participated in Art Alliance service initiatives such as art tours for Showcase Saturday, Art Day and Chili Bowl Sales. She has been accepted into the Portraits of Freedom Art Exhibit and has entered other exhibits across Texas. She is a recipient of the Academic Excellence Scholarship and the Regent’s Scholarship, and she has been on the President’s List all three years of college. Bruggeman participated in the Undergraduate Research Conference in the 2015 fall semester, and she is currently working on a new undergraduate research project involving arts integration in the sciences, specifically biology. She is working collaboratively with multiple professors at the university to conduct her research. She plans to teach in the SFA School of Art’s Summer Art Academy.

Stillwell, who will receive the Jack and Naioma Ledbetter Dean’s Award in Music, has been a member of the Wind Ensemble, Orchestra of the Pines, Roarin’ Buzzsaws Pep Band and the Lumberjack Marching Band. She has played in various opera orchestras, participated in the SFA French Horn Choir, and was a squad leader of the Lumberjack Marching Band Mellophone section. Stillwell has taught French horn lessons at Central High School since her second semester of college, and she was recently given the opportunity to teach lessons at Mount Enterprise High School. Since fall of 2014, she has taught horn for the SFA Music Preparatory Division. Additionally, she is the recipient of a four-year Academic Scholarship as well as a scholarship from the School of Music. These positions and awards have offered her chances to grow as a teacher, and she said she is grateful for each student with whom she’s had the pleasure of working. She currently studies horn with Dr. Charles Gavin. She is an active member at Grace Bible Church, volunteering weekly with the children’s ministry. Stillwell also served as the orchestral intern in the summer and fall of 2015 at First Baptist Church, Nacogdoches.

Adams, who will receive the Dr. Robert G. Sidnell Memorial Dean’s Award in Music Education, has been involved in many ensembles at SFA. She is currently principal of the Wind Ensemble and has been a member of the Orchestra of the Pines, the opera orchestra in its performance of Bedřich Smetana’s “The Bartered Bride,” the SFA flute choir and flute studio, and the Lumberjack Marching Band. She performs in the flute trio and the Mid-flight Flute Trio, which won the Denise Jennings undergraduate ensemble competition in spring of 2015. Adams has received multiple awards, including the Clara Fresher Nelson Music Scholarship, awarded by the Texas Association of Music Schools, and the J.T. Cox Band scholarship. She is also the 2013 Cole Scholar in the SFA School of Music. While music is her specialty, academic performance is equally important to Adams, who has been on the Dean’s List for five semesters and has received the Academic Excellence scholarship for as many semesters. Adams is a student of Dr. Christina Guenther and has also studied under lesson teacher Brooke Zimmerman-Cartwright and directors Fred J. Allen, Dr. David Campo, Dr. Tamey Anglley, Dr. Gene Moon, Dr. Nathan Templeton and Michael Moody.

Dobbs, who will receive the George and Peggy Schmidbauer Dean’s Award in Theatre, was stage manager for the School of Theatre’s production of “Clybourne Park,” assistant stage manager for “The Importance of Being Earnest” and props master for “Macbeth” on the SFA Mainstage. She stage-managed the student-directed productions of “The Valiant” and “Feeding the Moonfish” in the Downstage Theatre. Dobbs stage-managed “To Kill a Mockingbird” in the inaugural SummerStage Festival in 2014 and also served as the assistant props master for that production. Additionally, she stage-managed the Fredonia Players from 2013 to 2015. Dobbs is a paid student assistant for a variety of College of Fine Arts programs, including a member of the crews for the professional concerts and productions that visit W.M. Turner Auditorium, a production assistant for the School of Theatre’s student production seasons, and an assistant to the technical director in the workshop where the scenery is built for SFA theatre productions. Dobbs was an alternate to the 2016 SFA Undergraduate Research Conference. She was previously honored with the School of Theatre’s Meritorious Service Award and a “Tomy” Award for Theatrical Excellence in recognition of her contributions to the 2014-2015 season.

Each student will be awarded $2,000 to be used to further artistic endeavors.

With the ringing of a bell, Sam Houston, played by Stephen F. Austin State University junior Sarah Hutchins, comes to life in a living wax museum at Millard’s Crossing Historic Village in Nacogdoches. As a group of third-grade students gathers around her, Hutchins, dressed in a fringe jacket and black hat, reflects to the early 1900s while sharing Sam Houston’s story.

“He did a lot in his day. He lived with the Cherokees and had a very good relationship with them. He was a politician in Texas and Tennessee and a war hero in both states,” Hutchins explained to an attentive group of students. “He made Texas what it is today, and he was like the George Washington of Texas.”

For more than 20 years, SFA, area schools and Millard’s Crossing Historic Village have worked together to bring the past to life in an interactive field trip known as Pioneer Days. Roz Couch, assistant director for Millard’s Crossing Historic Village, said the collaboration is wonderful.

“Part of our mission at Milliard’s Crossing is to connect the generations. I think it’s important for children to learn that people who lived in the old days weren’t that different than we are now. They still had to eat, wash their clothes, do chores and go to school,” Couch said. “I think it’s wonderful for students to find out where they came from so they can appreciate the hard work and struggles their ancestors had and appreciate all the benefits and advantages they have in the 21st century.”

During the event, SFA elementary education students interact with third graders though a variety of experiential learning activities, such as the living wax museum.

“It’s really neat interacting with the children,” Hutchins said. “It’s fun to put the students in the context of this time and have them enjoy a period they are probably unfamiliar with.”

In the living wax museum tour, students walk through the Millard-Lee House, which dates to 1837, and engage in conversations with various characters such as Anna Raguet and Lera Millard Thomas. Students learn about each person’s contributions to the city, state and nation.

“First, we looked at curriculum for third grade, and then we figured out what we wanted the students to take away from their experience,” said Emma Avery, SFA senior elementary education major who portrayed Lera Millard Thomas. “It’s really fun to see the students get excited when they ring the bell and we come to life.”

Additional activities for participants included attending school in a one-room schoolhouse, hand washing clothes, playing pioneer games, plowing a garden, making toys from corncobs and feathers, and more. At each station, SFA students were dressed in traditional pioneer clothing and discussed aspects of life in the early 1900s.

Event coordinator and organizer Dr. Vicki Thomas, assistant professor of elementary education at SFA, said this event serves a dual purpose. It provides SFA students a platform to practice skills and methods learned in class while also educating area children about Texas history.

“Some of our best practices as teachers are using role playing and experiential learning. Hands-on activities like ones used during Pioneer Days really make concepts and lessons concrete for both our teacher candidates and for our area third graders,” Thomas said.

To prepare for this event, approximately 50 SFA students in Thomas’ classes researched the history of Millard’s Crossing, life in the early 1900s and influential people from the time period. Students also prepared lesson plans in line with the Texas Education Agency’s essential knowledge and skills standards. Through performance-based activities, SFA students practiced lesson planning and managing groups of students.

The April 19 and 21 event served approximately 300 third graders from various schools in Nacogdoches County.