Everything Nac

    Stephen F. Austin State University employees were recently honored for their years of service to the university. Faculty members honored for 10 years of service included, from left, Phil Stetz, management, marketing and international business; Peter T. Simbi, social work; Joey Lynn Bray, agriculture; Linda Stark Bobo, kinesiology and health science; Rhonda Williams, Steen Library; Deborah Dunn, computer science; Deborah May Ellisor, nursing; Clint Richardson, mathematics and statistics; and Kevin Langford, biology. Faculty members are pictured with SFA President Baker Pattillo, who presented the awards. Faculty members also honored but not pictured include Linda Thorsen Bond, mass communication; Philip E. Catton, history; Theresa Coble and Warren Conway, forestry; Michael Doughty, social work; Jeffrey C. Gergley, kinesiology and health science; Donna Heeney, teacher certification; Joyce Johnston, languages, cultures and communication; Scott A. Whitney, human services; and Carol S. Wright, general business.

    Faculty members honored for 20 years of service at Stephen F. Austin State University included, from left, Gary Wurtz, music; Gary Mayer and Sherry Williford, mass communication; Robert Wiggers, biology; Glenda Walker, nursing; Josephine Taylor, biology; Robert O. Choate, human services; and Treba Marsh, accounting, pictured with Baker Pattillo, SFA president. David Gunderson, a faculty member in the Department of Management, Marketing and International Business, also was honored for 20 years of service, and Dr. Richard Langley, chemistry, was honored for 30 years of service.

    Joe Gotti, agriculture professor, was honored for 30 years of service to Stephen F. Austin State University. Gotti is director of the university’s Equestrian Center and is pictured with Baker Pattillo, SFA president.

    Carol Scamman, research librarian for humanities and social sciences at Stephen F. Austin State University, was recently honored for 30 years of service. She is pictured with SFA President Baker Pattillo.

    Faculty members retiring from Stephen F. Austin State University were honored during a recent awards luncheon. Retirees honored included, from left, Walt Scalen, government; Debbie Ellisor, nursing; Beth Anson, psychology; Jimmy Partin, elementary education; William W. Gibson, biology; Sanford E. Miller, kinesiology and health science; and Betty S. Johnson, general business. Baker Pattillo, SFA president, presented the awards and is pictured at right. Retirees honored but not included in the photo are Julia Ballenger, secondary education and educational leadership; Jean Eldred and Jerry Frye, languages, culture and communication; Florence Elliott-Howard, general business; Mary Pack, nursing; and Henry Summers, management, marketing and international business.

    The Stephen F. Austin State University College of Fine Arts recently recognized four students during the presentation of the annual Dean’s Awards.

Stephen F. Austin State University College of Fine Arts faculty recently selected four outstanding students to receive the annual Dean’s Awards. The students’ major professors introduced the recipients and helped present the awards at the April ceremony. Standing, from left, are Assistant Professor of Art Neal Cox and Mansfield junior art major Emily Grogan; Longview junior music major Brady Weldon and Associate Professor of Voice Dr. Deborah Dalton; Dallas senior theatre major Grace Hartke and Professor of Theatre Dr. Rick Jones; Professor of Theory and Composition Dr. Stephen Lias (holding Canyon junior music major Joshua Zinn’s plaque); and Dr. A.C. “Buddy” Himes, dean of the College of Fine Arts.

    Emily Grogan, Mansfield junior art major; Grace Hartke, Dallas senior theatre major; Brady Weldon, Longview junior music education major; and Joshua Zinn, Canyon junior music major; were selected by the faculty of the respective schools on the basis of their potential to further develop their artistic and academic capabilities, explained Dr. A.C. “Buddy” Himes, dean of the College of Fine Arts.

    The awards were established by the Dean’s Circle, an auxiliary group of community members founded in 2008 and “dedicated, in part, to nurturing potential young artists within the College of Fine Arts,” Himes said.

    Grogan, who received the Ed and Gwen Cole Dean’s Award in Art, transferred to SFA to pursue a Bachelor of Fine Arts with concentrations in printmaking and painting. Her work has been included in two student shows, “Prinstallation” in 2011 and “Pen, Pigment & Metal” in 2012.

    Her name has been listed on the President’s Honor Roll several semesters. Upon graduation, she plans to pursue a master’s degree.

    Hartke, the recipient of the George & Peggy Schmidbauer Dean’s Award in Theatre, is pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in stage management. She has served as stage manager for four SFA Mainstage productions and the 2011 Summer Repertory Season.

    She is a member of the School of Honors; maintains a part-time job; and is a second-year member of Alpha Psi Omega, the National Theater Honor Society, for which she currently serves as secretary.

    Weldon, who received the Dr. Robert G. Sidnell Memorial Dean’s Award in Music Education, is placing his emphasis on choral music education. He sang the role of Dr. Grenvil in SFA’s recent production of “La Traviata” and has also performed in four other SFA operas.

    He tutors Music History through the SFA Academic Assistance Resource Center, and his recent research into the tradition of the African-American spiritual earned him recognition in SFA’s Annual Undergraduate Research Conference.

    Zinn, the recipient of the Jack and Naioma Ledbetter Dean’s Award in Music, joined the ceremony through a Skype videocall from Hobart, Tasmania, where he is continuing with his music composition degree in an exchange program at the University of Tasmania.

    While at SFA, Zinn has worked on the musical scores of two SFA films, had two compositions performed at the state conferences of the National Association of Composers and taught composition for SFA’s Music Preparatory Division.

    During the awards ceremony at The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House, the recipients were introduced by their major professors, awarded $2,000 to be applied towards next year’s school expenses and given an opportunity to speak.

    Himes said the focus of the annual Dean’s Awards ceremony is inspiration. “It is about inspiring students with pride and self-confidence to pursue the ideal; for each of them to dream what the ideal is for them; and to inspire them to use this award to go about making that dream their reality.”

    Fifth-grade students from Broaddus and San Augustine elementary schools participated in the second annual KidFish Program at Stephen F. Austin State University’s Piney Woods Conservation Center located in the Powelltown area.

KidFish participants and volunteers fished on the shore of the lake at Stephen F. Austin State University’s Piney Woods Conservation Center.

    Along with 78 students, parents and grandparents, game wardens, park rangers, and a host of friends and volunteers from the San Augustine Lions Club, Rotary Club and the Powelltown Volunteer Fire Department participated in the May 1 event.

Fifth-grade students and volunteers from Broaddus and San Augustine enjoyed the second annual KidFish program.

    According to David Treadaway, conservation center director, the KidFish program is hosted in conjunction with Texas Parks and Wildlife game wardens from the area. “We could not have accomplished it without TPW loaning us rods and reels, local business contributions and the wonderful group of volunteers that came out to assist these kids,” he said.

Game Warden Johnny Jones assists a student in bringing in a fish.

    The day began with a series of short classes that taught casting, fish identification and safety. Barbless hooks and worms were used to catch the bounty of fish but all were re-released back into the lake to be caught again at a later time.

    “The whole day was not only a learning experience for each child, but it was a field trip that 100 percent participated in and enjoyed,” said Shane McGown, Broaddus I.S.D. superintendent.

    The idea for a local KidFish program began with San Augustine Game Warden Johnny Jones. After mentioning the need to Treadaway, they began to recruit outside sponsors to assist in purchasing prizes, food and equipment.

    “Kenny Fowler and Nell McBride of First Bank and Trust in San Augustine were the first to offer assistance to the program, and they were quickly followed by San Augustine’s Lions Club and Rotary Club,” Treadaway said.

    Because of a special gift from the Shelby County Bass Club, each student received a new Zebco 202 rod and reel. In addition to a hot-dog lunch, participants won door prizes that included T-shirts, tackle boxes, backpacks and other donated items.

    San Augustine Elementary School Principal Zachary Weems said the KidFish program was an excellent reward for the students, who had completed the state’s STAAR testing. “They were really looking forward to a day outdoors, catching a few fish and being out of the classroom,” Weems said.