Everything Nac

Stephen F. Austin State University’s visual impairment and orientation and mobility program recently partnered with the SFA Braille and Cane Club and the Texas Division for Blind Services to host an Easter party for area children.

SFA students volunteered during the event to help children create craft projects and engage in activities. There also was an egg hunt on the SFA campus with beeping eggs, and children met the Easter bunny and enjoyed petting bunnies and a rooster.

Michael Munro, SFA visual impairment and orientation and mobility program director, said this event positions the university as a resource for students with visual impairments and their families, as well as provides SFA students the opportunity to work directly with visually impaired children.

“The event is a way to give back to the community and celebrate some great kids,” Munro said.

While the event benefited the community, it also aided SFA students, as they learned how to organize and raise funds for an event. Additionally, students wrote a reflection paper to help further develop their skills and professionalism.

“Through events like this, our program provides real-world learning opportunities,” Munro said. “Also, families can come together and feel supported by the university. Our biggest measure of success is the smiles and joy we give to the area’s visually impaired children.”

Stephen F. Austin State University students enrolled in the undergraduate visual impairment and orientation and mobility program recently volunteered at See Me Dance, an expanded core-curriculum event for children with visual impairments held in Pittsburg, Texas.

During the event, SFA students Jennifer Anderson, Gail Avey and Abby Blackwell helped serve lunch, socialized with attendees and learned dances alongside students with visual impairments.

“This was my first orientation and mobility event,” Anderson said. “I had so much fun, and it confirmed that this is what I want to do. I’m on the right track for my career goals.”

Blackwell agreed that attending the event helped her better realize the program’s impact.

“As a person with visual impairments, being on the other side is really exciting, because I got to see how much of an impact I can make,” Blackwell said.

Avey said working with the children was great because they were so confident and didn’t let their visual impairments hold them back. Michael Munro, visual impairment and orientation and mobility program director, said the SFA students were enthusiastic and eager to interact with and support the children while they participated in group dance instruction and games at this event.

“Our students were able to work with children who are visually impaired to enhance their learning of critical skills related to orientation and mobility, recreation and leisure, social interaction, independent living and build new experiences in which to learn,” Munro said. “These students did a wonderful job representing the university and the visual impairment and orientation and mobility program.”

The Region 8 Education Service Center sponsored the event.

Stephen F. Austin State University’s James I. Perkins College of Education will host Barrio Writers, a free weeklong summer writing program, June 13-18 on the SFA campus.

This is the second year SFA is offering the program, which is tailored for students ages 13-21 with an interest in reading and writing.

Barrio Writers comprises chapters in cities across the state, including Austin and Houston. Dr. Heather Olson Beal, SFA associate professor of secondary education, is coordinating the program for SFA and the Nacogdoches Independent School District.

The program offers free afternoon workshops in the McKibben Education Building on the SFA campus. SFA faculty and staff members serve as writing advisers who lead the workshops.

During each session, students read books, poems and song lyrics before discussing them as a group and then free write for 30 minutes. Through discussion, students relate the reading to their personal experiences by answering various questions. Students also can share their writing and receive critiques and constructive feedback.

“In this program, we don’t focus on grammar or writing style. Instead, we focus on using one’s voice for empowerment and identity,” Olson Beal said. “The program’s purpose is to have students work on content and expressing themselves. We want them to think about big issues in their communities and use writing as a tool to change the world around them.”

After each program is complete, Barrio Writers founder Sarah Rafael García collects the written work and compiles the pieces into a book to demonstrate the participant’s diverse backgrounds. Olson Beal said the opportunity for students to have their work published is one of the program’s main benefits. SFA Press began publishing the yearly Barrio Writers anthologies in 2015.

Along with the workshops, students participate in multicultural field trips during the week. Also, a public reading of the students’ work is hosted the Saturday following the program. This year’s public reading will be June 18.

In addition to Nacogdoches ISD students in grades 6-12, SFA students 21 or younger also are encouraged to participate in the event, especially education majors as Olson Beal said the event is great for experience and one’s résumé.

For more information, email sfabarriowriters@gmail.com or visit www.barriowriters.org.

More than 80 students enrolled in Stephen F. Austin State University’s six colleges will showcase the result of months of their research during the 2016 Undergraduate Research Conference on Thursday, March 31, in the Baker Pattillo Student Center Grand Ballroom.

“The purpose of this annual conference is to highlight and honor outstanding undergraduate research,” said Dr. Leslie Cecil, SFA associate professor of anthropology and chair of the Department of Anthropology, Geography and Sociology. “Students present on the paper or project they submitted, which must be completed during the previous calendar year and be faculty sponsored.”

One research project from each SFA college is chosen as top scholar and receives $250. Seven additional outstanding student research projects are selected from each college as finalists. All projects chosen by the URC executive committee, which includes Cecil and Drs. Mark Faries, Eric Jones, Elizabeth Tasker-Davis and Michael Tkacik, will be presented during the conference.

Research presentation topics range widely — from a look at “Women in the Workforce” by Nelson Rusche College of Business finalist Courtney Beatty; to stress management in kinesiology undergraduate students by James I. Perkins College of Education top scholar Marie Wilhelm; to “How Different Art Forms Capitalize on Elements of Artistic Expression” by College of Fine Arts finalist Jesse Edwards.

Other topics include the air quality in SFA’s public dining areas by Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture finalists Joshua Miller, Robert Grant, Maira Aleem, Brandyn Fredericks and Nathan Warner; “PR Plan for The Solid Foundation” by College of Liberal and Applied Arts top scholars Amber Juarez, Meagan Beckwith, James Hardcastle, Meagan Sellers and Jovita Ndong; and “Cutting Triangles” by College of Sciences and Mathematics finalist Nghia Nguyen, among others.

Now in its ninth year, the conference was created by SFA’s College of Liberal and Applied Arts in April 2008. Twelve students presented in its first year.

In 2009, the Office of the Provost and the School of Honors became sponsors of the URC and expanded the conference to incorporate undergraduate works from all of SFA’s six colleges.

Faculty and staff members, students and the community are encouraged to attend the URC from 4 to 7:30 p.m. Admission is free.

For information, visit sfasu.edu/honors/urc.

The Stone Fort Wind Quintet at Stephen F. Austin State University will perform this semester’s final Cole Performing Arts Series concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 31, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

A highlight of the concert will be the quintet’s performance of Variations sur un theme libre by popular French composer Eugene Bozza and featuring Dr. John W. Goodall in his last performance with the Stone Fort Wind Quintet. Goodall, professor of oboe in the SFA School of Music and associate dean of the College of Fine Arts, has announced his retirement at the end of the academic year, effective Aug. 31. He is a founding member of the group and has performed with the quintet for more than 30 years.

Also on the program is a performance of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Quintet for Piano and Winds, which will be the first performance of this piece at SFA, according to Dr. Charles Gavin, professor of horn and chamber music at SFA and quintet member. Dr. Ron Petti, associate professor of piano and director of accompanying, will join in this performance.

“Music for wind quartet is difficult to find, but this program features a variety of music,” Gavin said.

The concert will also include the wind quintet music of André-Frédéric Eler and American composer Charles Fernandez’s “Idyllwild Ride.”

In addition to Goodall and Gavin, the quartet includes School of Music faculty members Christina Guenther, flute; Christopher Ayer, clarinet; and Staci Spring, bassoon.

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.