Everything Nac

Trevor Smith, a Stephen F. Austin State University alumnus and benefits implementation manager at Aon Hewitt — a leading global provider of risk management, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human resources solutions and outsourcing services — recently visited SFA to meet with human resource management classes within the Nelson Rusche College of Business.

“We are very grateful when alumni such as Trevor return to SFA to hire fellow Lumberjacks,” said Dr. Marcus Cox, SFA assistant professor in management, marketing and international business. “Aon Hewitt is a global leader in human resource management, and in recent years, they have hired some of our top business graduates.”

During a lecture and Q&A session, Smith, who has worked for Aon Hewitt for approximately 16 years, presented an overview of the company, discussed the company’s work culture and internship opportunities, and advised students on résumé writing.

“As the Nelson Rusche College of Business grows its new human resource management major, we anticipate building on this important relationship with one of the top firms in the industry,” Cox said.

SFA’s Rusche College of Business began offering its new human resource management major in fall 2015.

Stephen F. Austin State University students enrolled in the James I. Perkins College of Education recently presented research at the Ethnographic and Qualitative Research Conference in Las Vegas.

Dr. Vicki Thomas, assistant professor of elementary education at SFA, explained this two-day national conference serves as a forum for presentations and engagement of ideas in qualitative research.

“Part of our university’s vision is to provide students with transformative experiences such as opportunities for students to conduct research and showcase their work. This experience offered our students time for sharing ideas and presenting the results nationally with qualitative research experts in a variety of fields.”

SFA senior elementary education majors Dani Quade, Haleigh Pickett and Lindsey Palat conducted a study using qualitative and quantitative data titled, “Using Play-Based Learning with English Language Learners.”

“We utilized a constructivist approach to teaching and implemented lessons in a school with a high population of English Language Learners,” Pickett said. “Using play-based learning instruction, we taught students how to compose and decompose numbers using Legos.”

Pickett explained they used Legos as a hands-on activity for students to physically see that when one decomposes something, one takes it apart much like subtraction. Then, when one composes something, one is building on to it like addition. The activity provided students a more visual insight of addition and subtraction.

Mentoring professors Thomas and Dr. Tingting Xu, assistant professor in elementary education, guided the students through the research process. Forty students participated in the study to determine the effects play-based lessons had on learning versus traditional lesson delivery.

The researchers used pre- and post-tests to measure students’ ability to compose and decompose numbers for both the control and experimental groups. Pickett said the test results showed a significant increase in the post-test results for the students who were taught using the play-based method.

Furthermore, the exit interviews with the students who used play-based learning more frequently used the words “math” and “fun” than students who received the traditional lessons.

“We were amazed at how much more enthusiastic the responses were from the experimental group, and to hear them say, ‘Math is fun’ was exciting,” Pickett said.

Quade, Pickett and Palat gave a presentation at the conference describing their study and its results. Pickett said the experience was rewarding and it gave her a great feeling of accomplishment knowing their work was being recognized from people all over the country. Thomas also praised the students’ work.

“These students exceeded far beyond the requirements for our program. They each took responsibility for their roles in the research and were fantastic ambassadors for our university,” Thomas said. “But most of all, they were able to see the effects of play-based lessons on student learning, which is a topic very dear to their hearts.”

SFA’s Office of Student Engagement Programs and the dean’s office in the College of Education helped fund the trip.

The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Art and the Friends of the Visual Arts will present a free, one-night screening of “The Salt of the Earth” at 7 p.m. Friday, March 4, in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.

“The Salt of the Earth” reveals the life and work of Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado, who for the past 40 years has traveled through the continents witnessing major events of history – international conflicts, starvation and exodus. This film by his son, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, and Wim Wenders, chronicles his quest to discover pristine territories, wild fauna and flora and grandiose landscapes as part of a huge photographic project as a tribute to the planet’s beauty, according to information at imdb.com.

The film runs 110 minutes and is rated PG-13 for thematic material involving disturbing images of violence and human suffering and for nudity.

This screening is part of the School of Art’s monthly First Friday Film Series and is sponsored in part by the Nacogdoches Film Festival, William Arscott, The Liberty Bell, Nacogdoches Junior Forum, Karon Gillespie, Mike Mollot, Main Street Nacogdoches, David Kulhavy, John and Kristen Heath, Brad Maule, Galleria Z, Jill Carrington, Jean Stephens and Jim and Mary Neal.

The Cole Art Center is located at 329 E. Main St. For more information, call (936) 468-1131.

Stephen F. Austin State University School of Theatre will present the student-directed “A Dollar” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 4, and at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 5, in the Downstage Theatre on the SFA campus.

Directed by senior theatre major Greg Albright of Palestine, playwright David Pinski’s “A Dollar” is about a troupe of traveling players who are tired and penniless and end up arguing over a dollar they find.

“The players, trekking from one town to the next, reach a crossroads at the end of the day and realize they won’t be sleeping in a town that night,” Albright explains. “Cold, exhausted, hungry and completely broke, they despair. In an attempt to cope with their situation, they begin to dance and sing. They then find a dollar lying on the ground, after which chaos and hilarity ensue.”

The cast features Jacksonville sophomore James Burns as The Comedian; Lufkin sophomore Jacob Carr as The Villain; Wichita Falls sophomore Travis Brasher as The Tragedian; Carthage junior Zachary Barlow as The Old Man; Waco freshman Marian Midgett as The Heroine; Rockwall senior Victoria Carew as The Ingénue; Austin sophomore Abigail Junk as The Old Woman; and Houston sophomore John Singleton as The Stranger.

The production staff includes Ashley Mouton, Groves junior, as stage manager; Bekki Stewart, exchange student from Essex, England, scenic designer; TJ Davis, Beaumont junior, costume designer; Emily Rohrman, Grand Saline senior, costume co-designer; Travis Wilson, Katy sophomore, lighting designer; Bruce Moran, Kingwood junior, sound designer; and Gabriel Penaloza-Hernandez, Austin sophomore, hair and makeup designer.

Albright has appeared in several School of Theatre productions, including “Spamalot” and “The Importance of Being Earnest,” and in the SummerStage Festival production of “The Emperor’s New Clothes” as Emperor Plumptoe. He is currently cast as the character Dad in “Bury Me in This,” a new play written by SFA’s playwright-in-residence Jack Heifner that is a part of the School of Theatre’s biennial Festival of New American Plays. Albright has also been in several student productions, including “Void as Man One” and “Stay Carl Stay.” He is the president of Improv Strikes Back, SFA’s improvisational theatre troupe. He plans to pursue his practicum for the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree during the upcoming fall and spring semesters.

“A Dollar” is recommended for mature audiences. Faculty production advisor is Scott Shattuck.

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.

The Swingin’ Axes and Swingin’ Aces jazz bands at Stephen F. Austin State University will perform the music of Count Basie, Duke Ellington and other jazz greats at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 4, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

“It’s an exciting semester for jazz at SFA,” said Dr. Deb Scott, professor of trombone and interim director of the Swingin’ Axes for the spring. Dr. J.D. Salas, associate professor of tuba and euphonium, is interim director of the Swingin’ Aces this semester. Scott and Salas assumed new roles this semester with the reassignment of Dr. Gary Wurtz as interim director of the SFA School of Music.

“Both jazz bands are sounding great and have really exciting new music planned,” Scott said.

The Aces will perform “Just Friends” by John Klenner, arranged by Joe Jackson; “Basic-ally Yours” by Thad Jones; “Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars” by Antonio Carlos Jobim, arranged by Mark Taylor; “C-Jam Blues” by Duke Ellington, arranged by Dave Wolpe; and “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans” by Louis Alter, arranged by Les Hooper.

The Axes’ program features “Moanin'” by Charles Mingus, arranged by Sy Johnson; “Count Me In” by Count Basie, arranged by Billy Byers; “Point No Point” by Dan Gailey, jazz director at the University of Kansas; “Wrygly” by Maria Schneider; “Got a Grip” by Chris Culver; and “Point of Return” by Paul Ferguson, a fast Latin number composed for the Paul Ferguson big band.

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.