Everything Nac

The Music Preparatory Division in the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music will begin its spring recital schedule with a performance of The Celtic Harp Band at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, April 8, in Cole Concert Hall.

The band features harp students of Emily Mitchell, harp instructor and SFA artist-in-residence. Cole Concert Hall is located in the Tom and Peggy Wright Music Building on the SFA campus.

Piano students of Linda Parr will perform at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, April 28, at First United Methodist Church, 201 E. Hospital St..

Piano students of SFA music major instructors and students of Dr. Mario Ajero will perform at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 5, in the Music Recital Hall in the Wright Music Building.

The Piney Woods Youth Orchestra, directed by Dr. Evgeni Raychev, will perform at 7 p.m. Monday, May 7, in Cole Concert Hall.

Violin students of Dr. Jennifer Dalmas and cello students of Raychev will perform at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 10, in the Music Recital Hall.

The SFA Young Violinists, featuring students of Brenda Josephsen, will perform at 6 p.m. Friday, May 11, in the Music Recital Hall.

On Saturday, May 12, piano students of Theresa Moon will perform at 2:30 p.m. in the Music Recital Hall, followed by a performance of “May Madness,” a unique recital by Linda Parr’s piano students demonstrating “having fun with families, friends and guests” through music, at 4 p.m. in Cole Concert Hall.

The final spring recital will feature the piano students of Mary Cooper performing at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, May 13, in Cole Concert Hall.

All recitals are free and open to the public.

For a complete listing of classes and types of instruction available through the Music Preparatory Division, visit www.music.sfasu.edu/prep or contact Director Pat Barnett at (936) 468-1291.

The Children’s Performing Arts Series at Stephen F. Austin State University will celebrate a classic tale of friendship and self-confidence when Virginia Repertory Theatre presents “The Ugly Duckling” in two performances on Friday, April 27, on the SFA campus.

Most children know the literary fairy tale by Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen of the swan who grows up “ugly” in a family of ducks, later to find his appearance changing as he discovers his true identity.

“Virginia Rep unites the classic ugly duckling with other animal ‘misfit’ heroes from the folk traditions of other cultures who work together to earn their home on the King’s estate and find the self-confidence that only friendship and accomplishment can provide,” said Diane Peterson, Fine Arts Box Office manager and director of the children’s series.

This production of “The Ugly Duckling” is a musical written by Richard Giersch, based on Andersen’s classic fable.

“Join the Children’s Performing Arts Series for this all singing, all dancing, all delightful musical,” Peterson added.

This production targets children in kindergarten through fifth grade. An online study guide at cpas.sfasu.edu assists teachers in incorporating classroom activities, including having students write their own fairy tales, into their curriculums. Other core instructional activities focus on elements of history, science and social sciences.

Performances are at 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. in W.M. Turner Auditorium in the Griffith Fine Arts Building. Tickets are $7.50 for individuals and $6 per person for groups of 20 or more.

To order tickets, call (936) 468-6407 or (888) 240-ARTS. Visit the CPAS website at www.cpas.sfasu.edu for additional information.

East Texans can be among the first to hear the newest works by three acclaimed playwrights during the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Theatre’s 2018 Festival of New American Plays scheduled for Tuesday through Saturday, April 24 through 28, on the SFA campus.

This biennial event showcases the work of some of the best playwrights in the nation in a five-day festival during which each selected play is presented twice in staged readings by SFA theatre students, according to Jack Heifner, SFA School of Theatre’s playwright-in-residence, director of the festival and one of the featured authors.

“Since 1998, we have brought playwrights to our campus to see their new works,” Heifner said. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for our audiences to view ‘theatre in the making’ and for students to work with professional playwrights.”

This year’s festival features “Hot Flashes,” which is Heifner’s adaptation of the best selling novel by the same name by Barbara Raskin, along with “Sorry, Not Sorry” by S. Denise O’Neal and “… And the Pursuit of Happiness 1994” by Ted Swindley.

“New plays are the life force of the American theatre, and we are fortunate that our students get to work on plays written by extremely talented professional artists,” said Cleo House Jr., director of the SFA School of Theatre. “The School of Theatre is deeply enriched by having Playwright-in-Residence Jack Heifner on faculty each spring semester. He biennially coordinates the Festival of New American Plays, which is a point of pride for the School of Theatre. This event also further illustrates the kind of opportunities we create for our students that helps to bridge the gap between education and the professional world.”

Written in 1987, Raskin’s “Hot Flashes” was on the New York Times Best Seller list for 20 weeks.

“A producer approached me in 2013 to adapt the book for the stage,” Heifner said. “After I spent a lot of work on the project, the producer died, and I was left with a play without the rights and without being paid. But I wanted to, at the very least, hear the adaptation read.

“Last year, I approached the Raskin estate, and the family was wonderful about giving us the rights to do these readings in the festival,” he said. “I am a great admirer of Ms. Raskin’s work. The play examines women’s friendships and the secrets we sometimes keep from those who think they know us best.”

A celebrated novelist, Raskin also wrote “The National Anthem,” an unflattering look at Washington during the Watergate investigations, “Loose Ends” and “Out of Order.” She sold her first short story when she was 12 to Seventeen magazine. She graduated from high school at 16 and from the University of Minnesota two-and-a-half years later. While she was working on her master’s degree in English from the University of Chicago, she worked part time as a flight attendant for Delta Airlines. She finished her first novel when she was 21 and moved to Washington. She taught at Georgetown University in Washington, wrote Senate speeches and diversified into journalism. Barbara Raskin died in 1999 at the age of 63.

In “Sorry, Not Sorry,” O’Neal has written six one-act plays, which are “urban, funny and touching,” Heifner said. “It will provide an interesting evening to watch actors play a variety of roles,” he added.

Swindley’s play “… And the Pursuit of Happiness 1994” is a comedy about a football player who decides to become a debutante.

“The play throws many of our ideas and prejudices up into the air as it explores gender roles, bigotry and talk show television,” Heifner said.

The festival opens with Heifner’s “Hot Flashes,” which will be read at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Friday, April 24 and 27. O’Neal’s “Sorry, Not Sorry” will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 25, and at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 28. Swindley’s “… And the Pursuit of Happiness 1994” will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Saturday, April 26 and 28.

Heifner is the author of more than 30 plays and musicals produced in New York, Los Angeles and theaters around the world. He is best known for the play version of “Vanities,” which ran for five years in New York and became one of the longest-running plays in Off-Broadway history. His musicals include “Leader of the Pack” on Broadway and “Vanities – A New Musical” in New York and London. He has also worked in television and film.

Heifner has been playwright-in-residence at SFA since 1997. Each spring, he teaches playwriting and screenwriting and has directed many SFA shows. He founded The Festival of New American Plays in 1998, and over the years, the school has presented the new works of Beth Henley, James McLure, Carol Hall, David Ives, Tina Howe, Constance Congdon, John Cariani, Getchen Cryer, William M. Hoffman and many others. Heifner is a member of The Dramatists Guild, The Writers’ Guild of America and Actors Equity Association, and he has been inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters and The Texas Playwriting Hall of Fame.

Named a recipient of the Mary McCloud Bethune Award (National Council of Negro Women, 2015) and one of the “100 Creatives” of 2014 by the Houston Press, O’Neal has been a writer, director and producer for more than 20 years and has most recently become a published playwright. She is the executive director of Shabach Enterprise, a nonprofit theater company based in Houston, and the owner of Watch My Groove Enterprises LLC. Her most recent critically acclaimed productions include “Ms. Lily’s Groove,” “Just A Few Feet Away,” “Bagel Anyone,” “Fly In The Windshield” (which was Broadway World’s Editor’s Pick for Best New Play of 2013) and “In One Breath.”

In 2013, O’Neal founded the national play festival Fade To Black, which celebrates the new works of black playwrights. In 2014, she served as the assistant director for the Pulitzer Prize-winning production of Lynn Nottage’s “Ruined” in its Houston regional premiere. She directed the production of “Intimate Apparel,” also written by Nottage, in 2015. She is a member of The Dramatists Guild and a former board member of Scriptwriters/Houston, and she is active in the Houston theatre community.

Swindley is internationally known as writer and director of the popular musical “Always…Patsy Cline.” He is the founding artistic director of Stages Rep in Houston. He was also named to the Esquire Magazine’s register of outstanding Americans in Arts and Letters. Swindley was the recipient of the Los Angeles Dramalogue Award for outstanding direction of “Carnal Knowledge” by Jules Feiffer. He is president of Ted Swindley Productions Inc., a theatrical licensing and consulting company, and continues his 40-year career writing plays and musicals, consulting and mentoring playwrights, as well as directing plays and musicals for theaters throughout the U.S. and abroad. For more information, go to www.tedswindleyproductions.com.

All festival performances will be in the Downstage Theatre of the Griffith Fine Arts Building, 2222 Alumni Drive. For more information, visit theatre.sfasu.edu.

The festival is part of the SFA School of Theatre’s Mainstage Series. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and $7.50 for students and youth. For tickets, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.

The Stephen F. Austin State University Early Childhood Laboratory, in partnership with the Greater East Texas Community Action Program’s Head Start Program, invites the community to participate in the Week of the Young Child, which will be observed Monday, April 16, through Friday, April 20, in Nacogdoches County.

As part of the National Week of the Young Child, Nacogdoches will honor young children and all those who make a difference in children’s lives.

“Nacogdoches supports young children and families. Our community believes all young children need and deserve high-quality early learning experiences that will help prepare them for life,” said Lori Harkness, director of the SFA Early Childhood Laboratory. “Week of the Young Child is a time to recognize the importance of early learning for all young children and celebrate the children and families in our community.”

Weldon T. Beard, head start director of GETCAP, agrees community involvement in early childhood education is of the utmost importance.

“We all share the responsibility to provide all children with a safe, nurturing, engaging, enjoyable and secure learning environment. This foundation is the framework for preparing children for their future,” Beard said.

The annual Family Fun Day will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, April 14, at Festival Park in downtown Nacogdoches. This free event will include many fun-filled activities for children and families to do together.

During the week, all daycares, schools or other organizations working with children are encouraged to join together and honor young children and their families. Each day will reflect a designated theme. The themes are:

Monday, April 16 – Music Monday: Sing, dance, celebrate and learn

Tuesday, April 17 – Tasty Tuesday: Healthy eating and fitness

Wednesday, April 18 – Work Together Wednesday

Thursday, April 19 – Artsy Thursday: Think, problem-solve and create

Friday, April 20 – Family Friday: Sharing family stories.

The SFA Early Childhood Lab and the GETCAP Head Start Program comprise early childhood professionals working together to improve professional practice and working conditions in early childhood education.

For more information, contact the SFA Early Childhood Laboratory at (936) 468-4006.

By Kasi Dickerson, senior marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.

The College of Fine Arts at Stephen F. Austin State University will join the National Civil Rights Museum’s MLK50 initiative Wednesday, April 4, by tolling the bells in Griffith Fine Arts Building in observance of the 50th anniversary of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

While many will be in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4 to attend events commemorating the contributions King made during his 39 years before his assassination at the Lorriane Motel in Memphis on the evening of April 4, 1968, other observances will take place across the nation. One of those is a unified tolling of bells at universities that have chapels or bell towers.

King was assassinated at 6:01 p.m. Central Standard Time. Since the news rippled across the country, the bells will first ring at the National Civil Rights Museum at 6:01 p.m. CST. Bells will chime in the City of Memphis at 6:03 p.m. CST, at 6:05 p.m. CST nationally and 6:07 p.m. CST internationally.

At 6:05 p.m. Wednesday, the bells in Griffith Fine Arts Building will toll 39 times to mark the years King was alive.

“This is a simple, yet sincere way for us to acknowledge the loss of Dr. King, but more importantly, to recognize the significant contributions he made around the world,” said Dr. A.C. “Buddy” Himes, dean of the SFA College of Fine Arts.

Stephen F. Austin State University’s James I. Perkins College of Education recently recognized several faculty members as the college’s Teaching Excellence Award honorees.

Annually, representatives are selected from academic units within each of SFA’s six colleges to receive Teaching Excellence Awards. Then, each college selects one academic unit faculty member to represent his/her college at the university’s annual Teaching Excellence Convocation.

The Teaching Excellence Award recognizes outstanding full-time faculty members who demonstrate extensive knowledge of subject matter, quality lectures and assignments, enthusiasm for teaching, and interest in and availability to students. Commitment to continuous improvement and contribution to the quality of teaching at SFA by assisting and encouraging other faculty members also are considered.

Honorees in the James I. Perkins College of Education include Dr. Adam Akerson, assistant professor in the Department of Elementary Education; Dr. Darla O’Dwyer, associate professor in the School of Human Sciences; Dr. Kathy Sheriff, assistant professor in the Department of Human Services; Dr. Todd Whitehead, associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Science; and Dr. Scott Bailey, associate professor in the Department of Secondary Education and Educational Leadership. Among the honorees, Bailey was selected to represent the Perkins College of Education at the university’s Teaching Excellence Convocation, which will be held in April.

“I’m honored to represent the college, my alma mater and the teaching profession,” Bailey said.

The college also recognized Faculty Senate Teaching Excellence honorees for non-tenure track faculty members. Honorees include Erica Dillard, instructor in the Department of Elementary Education; Todd Barrios, clinical instructor in the School of Human Sciences; Deena Petersen, clinical instructor in the Department of Human Services; Sandy Miller, lecturer in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Science; and Alison Cope, visiting instructor in the Department of Secondary Education and Educational Leadership.

By Kasi Dickerson, senior marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.

When Stephen F. Austin State University student and Undergraduate Research Conference finalist Ben Dickey went on a study abroad trip to China in May of 2016, he came back with firsthand experience detailing the importance of intercultural awareness.

“Right now our society is globalizing very quickly every day, and with this comes a lot of diversity,” Dickey said.

Dickey, a senior elementary education major from Austin, was chosen as a conference finalist for his research project “Developing Intercultural Awareness through a Study Abroad Program,” an ethnographic case study analyzing his experiences during an eighteen-day trip abroad. The conference seeks to highlight exceptional research projects from each of the university’s six colleges and one regional college.

While in China, Dickey wrote daily journals and discussed his experiences with professors. Later, he went back and analyzed these discussions as well as a reflection paper he wrote while abroad.

According to his research, there are three levels of intercultural awareness.

“With basic cultural awareness, you’re conscious of people who are different from you,” Dickey said. “Then you progress to the second level, maturing, with more fluidity with culture. Finally, you get to the third level, which is intercultural awareness where you understand and you’re able to make those interactions and, in time, adjust and adapt those interactions with different cultures.”

Professors who accompanied him on the trip acted as culture guides, discussing with him some of the culture shock he experienced.

Especially as it relates to teaching, developing intercultural awareness is vital, he said.

“If you look at the demographics of our teachers, 82.7 percent of our teachers are white, not Hispanic. Yet, our student population continues to diversify,” Dickey said. “These teachers who come from one culture need to be able to interact with students from a diverse population.”

This awareness is key in professions centered on making connections, he said.

“If you’re very ethnocentric, only thinking about yourself, you’re not going to be able to develop those strong relationships,” Dickey said. “You need to be able to connect with students, guide them and have that safe environment for them to learn – or else you’re going to do a disservice to them.”

Because he plans to work in a Title I school after graduation, the research has a personal application for him.

“I want to be able to learn more about other perspectives in society and how I can relate to them,” Dickey said. “Just being able to experience being immersed in the culture, and learning and feeling what it’s like, helps, and it’s definitely something you need to do when you’re interacting with different populations.”

In addition to conducting his own research projects, Dickey started the Undergraduate Research Club on campus.

“I really want to be able to spread undergraduate research to more people and for them to have the opportunity to go to more conferences and be able to publish their work as well,” he said.

The aim of the club is to familiarize students with the research process and help them get more comfortable with presenting their work.

“I’m delighted with the way Ben has taken the initiative on this club,” said Dr. Michael Tkacik, director of the School of Honors and professor in the Department of Government. “Students who engage in undergraduate research demonstrate intellectual curiosity, creativity and perseverance, all sought-after traits for employment or graduate work. The club allows Ben and the other members to showcase these traits.”

Dickey also serves as a tutor at the Academic Assistance and Resource Center and student teaches at Thomas J. Rusk Elementary School. He plans to keep working at maintaining intercultural awareness.

“Once you develop it, it doesn’t just stay there,” Dickey said. “You have to be constantly working and developing it.”

Dickey will present more of his research on intercultural awareness at the Undergraduate Research Conference poster presentations starting at 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 17, in the Twilight Ballroom.

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

Students from Stephen F. Austin State University’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry recently received top honors at the Texas Academy of Science 121st annual meeting at Midland College.

Ten students from the department attended, presenting research and sitting in on lectures. Sydney Thompson, senior biochemistry major from Murphy, received Top Oral Presentation in the chemistry and biochemistry category for her presentation about East Texas regional fuel models. Graduate student Darean Bague from Killeen was selected to participate in an oral presentation competition for graduate students.

“I’m proud to be able to represent SFA at conferences such as these and really show the region how bright Lumberjacks from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry can shine,” Thompson said. “We have a great department with many amazing and hardworking students, and I’m very grateful to be a part of it.”

Dr. Alyx Frantzen, associate professor in the department, said the conference provided SFA students with an opportunity to explore the research students at other universities are conducting, as well as further develop their own presentation skills.

“Students who go to conferences and present their work are representing SFA and the education and opportunities they receive while they are here,” said Frantzen, former vice president of the academy and current president-elect. “We received many positive comments from faculty at other universities complementing us on how well our students performed during the conference.”

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