Everything Nac

The Stanley Center for Speech and Language Disorders at Stephen F. Austin State University has received a 2021 Speak Out and Loud Crowd grant from the Parkinson Voice Project, the only 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in the world dedicated to helping individuals with Parkinson’s disease improve their speech and swallowing.

The center is among a select group of hospitals, university speech therapy clinics, private practices and nonprofit organizations worldwide to receive this funding. The grant provides free Speak Out training for the clinical instructors and graduate students in SFA’s speech-language pathology program. It also funds materials that are used in the Speak Out and Loud Crowd programs.

“Up to 90% of people with Parkinson’s are at high risk of losing their ability to speak, and complications account for a 70% mortality rate in this patient population,” said Parkinson Voice Project founder and CEO Samantha Elandary. “Our vision at Parkinson Voice Project is to make our highly-effective speech therapy program accessible to people with Parkinson’s worldwide.”

East Texas has a large population of people diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, according to Deena Petersen, director of the Stanley Center for Speech and Language Disorders.

“We are fortunate to be trained in the Speak Out program to help these clients communicate better,” she said.

The clinic offers free therapy sessions to East Texans with Parkinson’s disease to help them learn how to speak with intent, Petersen said.

“People with Parkinson’s disease do not realize they are speaking softly, and people cannot hear them. In the Speak Out program, clients become more aware of their speech and learn that when they speak, it must be with intention.”

In addition to individual Speak Out sessions, the Stanley Center for Speech and Language Disorders offers the Loud Crowd program, which is a maintenance program for patients with Parkinson’s disease offering ongoing vocal practice, support and encouragement. When clients complete the Speak Out program, they transition to Loud Crowd.

The Parkinson Voice Project’s grant program honors Dr. Daniel R. Boone, a world-renowned speech-language pathologist and voice expert who recognized in the late 1950s that individuals with Parkinson’s disease could improve their communication if they spoke with intent. The Parkinson Voice Project combines individual and group therapy to convert speech from an automatic function to an intentional act.

For more information on the center’s services, call (936) 468-7109.

By Nathan Wicker, senior marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University

Crystal Adams, who joined the Stephen F. Austin State University Early Childhood Laboratory as director in June, is no stranger to Nacogdoches, the university or the ECHL.

Adams is a lifelong Nacogdoches resident and received her bachelor’s degree from SFA in interdisciplinary studies in 2010. She earned her master’s degree in educational administration from the University of Texas at Tyler in 2012 and a master’s degree in school counseling in 2013.

Adams previously worked at the ECHL as assistant to the director from 2007 through 2010, and she has spent years with Nacogdoches ISD in a number of roles, including teacher, counselor and assistant principal in middle and elementary schools.

“Crystal is exceptionally prepared to hold the director’s position and to be able to provide appropriate instructional leadership and coordinate professional development for the lab’s professional staff,” said Dr. Judy Abbott, dean of SFA’s Perkins College of Education. “During the past 11 years, Crystal was employed with Nacogdoches ISD at the middle and elementary school levels. That employment allowed her to come to know many families across the community, which has been helpful as she stepped into the director role at the lab,” Abbott said.

As she takes on the lead position at the ECHL, Adams said she’s excited to get to know the children and play a pivotal part in their lives.

“My absolute favorite part of the job is interacting with children and learning more about them and their families,” Adams said. “Children have a special ability to make you laugh and smile no matter what. I see my role as director as an advocate for them. Everything I do is based on putting their safety, needs, health and learning first.”

The ECHL’s program offers benefits for SFA students, area children ages infant through pre-kindergarten and the community. The facility provides a learning laboratory for SFA educator candidates to observe teacher and student interactions. Area children benefit by receiving an education focused on their total development. Curriculum is intended to develop intellectual and personal competence rather than training children in performing a limited set of academic skills.

The community also benefits by having a state-of-the-art learning laboratory nearby, where children receive personalized instruction from experienced teachers who also are mentoring SFA education students training to be the next generation of teachers.

“The university is well-known for its teaching program. It is the foundation SFA was built on,” Adams said. “I’m proud to be associated with an integral part of that legacy. The Early Childhood Laboratory is such a unique facility. It provides the forum for college and young students to come together to learn from each other and our educators.”

Adams has set goals for the laboratory, including expanding to serve more students and families, partnering with local schools, and incorporating a dual language program. She also hopes to be able to resume fundraising activities to help support the lab.

For more information about the ECHL, visit https://www.sfasu.edu/echl/.

By Nathan Wicker, senior marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University

The School of Music at Stephen F. Austin State University will host its annual Brass Day on Sunday, Oct. 17, on the university campus.

Brass Day is devoted to high school students of all ages who play a brass instrument, including trumpet, horn, trombone, euphonium and tuba, and who are interested in learning more about how to perform the prescribed audition etudes for all-region and all-state bands, according to Dr. Deb Scott, trombone professor at SFA one of the faculty organizers of Brass Day.

Information about the School of Music and its audition requirements for prospective music majors will also be presented. Music faculty will also discuss practice tips and audition preparation and strategy.

Brass Day features a 4 p.m. performance by the Pineywoods Brass Quintet and the SFA Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band in the Grand Ballroom of the Baker Pattillo Student Center.

For more information and to register, visit www.music.sfasu.edu/brassday, or contact Dr. J.D. Salas, tuba and euphonium associate professor, at salasjd@sfasu.edu or (936) 468-4107. Participation in Brass Day clinics and informational sessions is free of charge. The day’s events begin at 1 p.m. and end at the conclusion of the concert. Activities take place in the Wright Music Building and the student center.

The public is invited to join Stephen F. Austin State University’s College of Sciences and Mathematics and Bruce McCandless III for an evening of space stories about his father, astronaut Bruce McCandless II, at 6 p.m. Oct. 14, in the SFA planetarium.

The book, “Wonders All Around: The Incredible True story of Astronaut Bruce McCandless II and the First Untethered Flight in Space,” was written by McCandless III and details pivotal moments in his father’s career, which spanned the Apollo era and the Skylab and shuttle programs. An Amazon best seller, the book was recently listed by Men’s Journal as a Top 20 Book to Read in 2021.

“You’ve probably seen the photo — that all-but-ubiquitous snapshot of an astronaut with a jet-powered backpack gliding along in the vastness of the cosmos, untethered and unafraid,” McCandless III said. “Other than that fantastic image, though, you may know very little about the man in the jetpack: Captain Bruce McCandless II.”

Some of McCandless II’s accomplishments include serving as a capsule communicator for Neil Armstrong’s Apollo 11 moon walk, repairing the damaged Skylab orbital workshop, performing the first untethered flight in space, and designing and deploying the Hubble Space Telescope.

The presentation is free to the public.

Learn more about the SFA Planetarium at sfasu.edu/planetarium.

By Joanna Armstrong, marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University

The Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band at Stephen F. Austin State University will perform at 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 17, in the Grand Ballroom of the Baker Pattillo Student Center on the SFA campus.

The student ensembles’ performances are part of Brass Day at SFA. Brass Day is devoted to high school students of all ages who play a brass instrument, including trumpet, horn, trombone, euphonium and tuba, and who are interested in learning more about how to perform the prescribed audition etudes for all-region and all-state bands. The concert will open with a performance by the Faculty Brass Quintet.

Additionally, the concert will also feature works by composer Joel Love, who will collaborate with School of Music students in mid-October as part of the SFA bands’ annual composer residency. The Symphonic Band, directed by Assistant Director of Bands Dr. Chris Kaatz, will begin its performance with William Latham’s “Brighton Beach.” Kaatz describes this British-style march as a staple in the repertoire, “likely due to its ominous D minor opening and bold F major finale.” Dana Wilson’s “Sang!” follows and showcases the composer’s eclectic, yet rousing use of jazz harmony and popular music riffs in his writing. This groove-saturated soundscape is succeeded by the sneaky and somewhat sinister “Baron Piquant on Pointe.” Beginning quietly and featuring numerous soloists before employing the full ensemble, this piece was written by University of Texas at Austin Professor of Composition Donald Gratham. Symphonic Band concludes its performance with a work by Gratham’s student, Love. “‘A Cardinal’s Hymn’ embodies Love’s trademark lush, technical lyricism,” according to Kaatz. The work, whose title is a reference to Love’s undergraduate mascot, is an homage to Dr. Wayne Dyess, who was an influential mentor to Love during his studies at Lamar University.

The Wind Symphony, directed by Associate Director of Bands Dr. Dan Haddad, will open the second half with John Mackey’s bombastic tour de force, “Until the Scars.” The colorful orchestration of famed Italian composer Ottorini Respighi is featured next in his sole work for winds, “Huntingtower Ballad.” Love’s “Aurora Borealis” serves as the cornerstone for the Wind Symphony’s program. It is the composer’s first work for wind ensemble and was selected as a finalist in the 3rd International Frank Ticheli Composition Contest. Love’s grand evocation of the northern lights is complimented by Percy Grainger’s raucously energetic “The Gum-Suckers March,” which closes the concert.

Admission to the concert is free. The Wind Ensemble, Wind Symphony, Symphonic Band, Percussion Ensemble, Trombone Choir and the SFA Faculty Brass Quintet will collectively present the Kaleidoscope Concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 16, in the Grand Ballroom. For additional information, contact the School of Music at (936) 468-4602.