Everything Nac

As the presidential election approaches, teacher candidates at Stephen F. Austin State University are working with the Nacogdoches Public Library to help local families teach their children about their civic duty.

The library is distributing a limited number of election activity boxes assembled by the teacher candidates in SFA’s Community Responsiveness and Engaged Advocacy in Teacher Education program, or C.R.E.A.T.E.

“Elections are so important, at every level — local, state and federal. Children of all ages see campaign signs, watch candidate debates and hear adults talking about issues and candidates,” said Dr. Heather Olson Beal, professor in SFA’s James I. Perkins College of Education.

“We need to talk to kids and answer their questions about what elections mean and who is running for what offices,” she added. “We hope these activities help families engage children about the events leading up to voting as well as the voting process from an early age.”

The teacher candidates packed the following items in the election activity boxes: information sheets on how to vote, an assessment tool to evaluate candidates, blank postcards to learn how to write elected officials, “I Voted” stickers, and the recipes for President Donald Trump’s and former Vice President Joe Biden’s favorite desserts.

The election activity boxes also contain books about voting, including “So What’s the Big Deal about Elections?” for children in kindergarten through grade 3, “Understanding Your Role in Elections” for children in grades 3 through 6, and “Lifting as We Climb: Black Women’s Battle for the Ballot Box” for young adults.

“Talking about politics and especially the election has become so taboo in today’s society,” said Eriqa Noriega, an elementary education senior from San Antonio and a teacher candidate in the C.R.E.A.T.E program who helped assemble the boxes.

“These activity boxes provide families with the tools to engage in healthy, productive conversations — and, most importantly, involve their children in these conversations — about the election,” she said. “It wouldn’t be such a sensitive topic if we learned from a young age how to talk about it.”

Noriega added that the postcard-writing activity also is key. “It helps children learn how to advocate for themselves and others.”

The idea for the project originated in a faculty learning community facilitated by Dr. Lauren Burrow, an associate professor in the Perkins College of Education, and offered by SFA’s Center for Teaching and Learning.

“These learning communities help SFA faculty members brainstorm and refine practical ideas that can be executed efficiently and successfully,” Burrow said. “In this case, faculty saw a way to assist local families in cutting through the noise around the presidential election and examining the basics of the process in a way that all ages can understand.”

Early voting runs Oct. 13-30 in Texas. Election Day is Nov. 3.

To learn more about the election activity boxes, email Olson Beal at olsonbehk@sfasu.edu.

By Jo Gilmore, marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.

The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Art will present exhibitions that showcase the works of its faculty members in shows planned for Oct. 22 through Dec. 31 in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House.

“Oil and Water” features photographs taken along the Texas Gulf Coast by Amanda Breitbach, assistant professor of art at SFA.

“These photographs represent the dual nature of the Texas Gulf Coast as an important ecosystem that provides vital habitat for wildlife and a site of oil and gas development that is equally vital to the global petrochemical industry,” Breitbach said.

Breitbach grew up on a family farm and ranch in eastern Montana. She studied photography and French at Montana State University before serving as an agroforestry volunteer with the United States Peace Corps in Guinea, West Africa. She has worked as a newspaper photographer, writer and editor as well as a freelance photographer. She earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2016.

The Breitbach show will be in the upstairs Reavley Gallery while an exhibition in the downstairs Ledbetter Gallery will feature works by other SFA art faculty members.

Art exhibitions are sponsored in part by William Arscott, the Friends of the Visual Arts and the Nacogdoches Junior Forum.

The Cole Art Center is SFA’s historic downtown art gallery located at 329 E. Main St. For more information, call the School of Art at (936) 468-4804. Admission is free.

Second eight-week semester begins Oct. 15

After transitioning a considerable portion of courses to distance formats as a result of the pandemic, Stephen F. Austin State University has multiplied its fall course section options significantly, announcing that it will be offering 201 course sections during its second eight-week fall semester.

This increase means students interested in enrolling in the second half of fall have dozens of courses from which to build an ideal schedule.

The second eight-week fall semester begins Oct. 15; however, students may register online through Oct. 19.

Students also may continue to register Oct. 20 through 22 by filling out a special permit form. A link to the form is located in mySFA by clicking “Registration Request Form” in the “Register” box under the “Registration” tab. Directions for submitting the form are included in the link.

“We have had an amazing response to our new eight-week semester options and are thrilled we are able to offer so many more courses during the fall’s second half,” said Dr. Steve Bullard, provost and vice president for academic affairs. “The eight-week option, coupled with added course sections, means Lumberjacks have more flexibility to build a schedule that works for them — and potentially finish college in less time!”

For more information on fall registration, visit sfasu.edu/registrar/687.asp. If you’re not currently a student, apply to SFA today at ApplyTexas.org.

By Christine Broussard, marketing communications coordinator at Stephen F. Austin State University.

Students in Stephen F. Austin State University’s DeWitt School of Nursing will be partnering with East Texas Community Health Services to provide free flu vaccinations Oct. 7 through 10 during a drive-through event at the DeWitt School of Nursing.

Fourth-semester nursing students in the community health course will administer the shots from 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. The event is open to the public, and health insurance is not required. Children 4 years of age and older are eligible for a vaccine.

As the weather turns colder and people spend more time inside, the threat of a “trifecta” – a perfect storm of COVID-19, the flu and the measles – looms larger, said Michelle Klein, clinical instructor in the School of Nursing.

“It is recommended now more than ever to get a flu shot,” Klein said.

Klein hopes the convenience as well as the added safety of the drive-through format encourages more people, especially vulnerable populations like the elderly, to attend.

Masks are required for attendees.

For more information about the School of Nursing, visit sfasu.edu/nursing.

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