Everything Nac

Stephen F. Austin State University elementary education students enrolled in Dr. Lauren Burrow’s courses and a local Girl Scout created a free mini-library outside of Brooks-Quinn-Jones Elementary School to promote literacy in the community. [/caption]Stephen F. Austin State University elementary education students are helping promote literacy throughout the Nacogdoches community by creating a free mini-library outside Brooks-Quinn-Jones Elementary School.

“We’ve been working with BQJ on several student-driven projects the past few semesters,” said Dr. Lauren Burrow, SFA assistant professor of elementary education. “After talking with BQJ staff members about how SFA students can be more involved, we discovered the school’s interest in literacy initiatives. They had heard about mini-libraries and asked us if we could do something similar. We said, ‘Sure,’ and went bigger with it.”

The mini-library, known as the Brooks-Quinn-Jones BookJoy Benches and Book Box, was a collaborative project between Burrow, SFA students and a local Girl Scout, Maya Tanner, who made the library her bronze project and constructed the book box.

The book box resembles a large mailbox and is stocked with a variety of children’s books. SFA students collected more than 500 books for the mini-library. Several benches also were secured and placed on the front lawn of BQJ to create an inviting reading area.

“The point is for people to come take a book, read it and keep it as long as they want. You could keep it in your home forever if you wanted. That’s the great thing about it — there are no due dates, fines or fees,” Burrow said.

Many of Burrow’s students have been working with BQJ elementary students on a plethora of projects, all of which culminated with the recent grand opening of the mini-library. For example, SFA students researched lesser-known historical figures and wrote original children’s books about the figures to share with the elementary students. BQJ students helped illustrate the books.

Additionally, SFA students taught BQJ children poetry and had them write their own poems, which also were published in a book. Both of these books were some of the first to be placed in the mini-library.

During the library’s grand opening, SFA students hosted a BookJoy event with games, crafts and activities for BQJ students.

“BookJoy was a great event because it gave us ideas on what a lesson could be and how we could incorporate learning into different activities,” said Ben Dickey, Austin junior and early childhood through sixth grade education major. “Also, the library is a great resource for students. A lot of students hang out here during the summer to play on the playground, and now they will be able to read, too.”

This project was funded in part by Burrow’s service learning mini-grant.

The exhibition “Pollinators of the World” will show May 4 through 20 in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.

“Pollinators of the World” is curated by Charles Jones, director of the LaNana Creek Press at Stephen F. Austin State University, and Dr. David Kulhavy, Lawrence C. Walker Distinguished Professor in the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, SFA.

International in scope, the exhibition features art from United States, Costa Rica, South Korea, Jamaica, Russia and the Czech Republic. Its purpose is to highlight the role of pollinators around the world.

“The recurring theme of bees, hummingbirds and bats indicate the significance and importance of these pollinators,” according to Kulhavy. “These pollinators play a vital role in our ecosystems by carrying pollen from plant to plant to carry genetic material for reproduction of flowering plants.”

Artists and student-artists of all levels were invited to create works on paper that reflected important pollinators from their area of the world. Among the submissions to the exhibit are images of bees, bats, birds, moths, butterflies, flies, beetles, lemurs, bush babies and geckos.

“The refreshing styles and varied mediums of the works in the exhibit portray the rich color, texture and vibrancy of this part of our environment,” Jones said.

The exhibit contains work by local artists Piero Fenci and Liz Akamatsu, Corinne Jones, Charles Jones, Peter Andrew, Neal Cox and students from the SFA School of Art. Also represented are block prints of butterflies, bush babies and geckos from young artists from Nová Paka, the Czech Republic. From Jamaica, artists portray pollinating butterflies, hummingbirds and bats in mixed media. From Alapaevsk, Sverdlovskaya region, Russia, artists from the P.I. Tchaikovsky Children’s Art School present color engravings on cardboard of “The Rustle of Wings,” “Dancing on Flowers,” “Velvet Bees” and “Cities of Butterflies.” From South Korea, students portray bees and butterflies in mixed media. Other works come from students from Holy Trinity School, Dallas, presenting bees, bats, hummingbirds and the monarch butterfly.

Jones and Kulhavy included “Pollinator LIVE,” the text of a song on a woodcut print, and woodcuts and poetry quatrains of the “Monarch Butterfly” and the “Zebra Swallowtail” from “A Forest Insect Alphabet” series, LaNana Creek Press.

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

Jillian Daigle, a Stephen F. Austin State University graduate student from Magnolia, has been awarded the Mike Shirley Orientation and Mobility Student Award for 2017.

This award is presented to an orientation and mobility student or consumer who showed extraordinary determination and courage as they endeavored to learn and maintain the skills needed to be an independent traveler to the highest degree possible.

“It means a lot to me to win this award. I am very grateful, blessed and honored,” Daigle said.

During the past eight months, Daigle explained she has had multiple surgeries regarding her vision.

“I have managed with a lot of help and support from my family and wonderful professors at SFA to stay in school during all of this while still holding a 4.0 GPA,” Daigle said.

Michael Munro, director for SFA’s visual impairment and orientation and mobility program, nominated Daigle for the award, which was presented to her at the Texas Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired conference.

“Jillian has shown an awe-inspiring amount of courage during the past year. She is an excellent student,” Munro said. “Amazingly, in spite of several eye emergencies, Jillian has managed to continue her studies at an extremely high level and work toward her goal to serve our field. Her story is one of bravery and fortitude.”

In addition to receiving the award at the TAER conference, Daigle also presented research alongside Michael and Heather Munro, SFA instructor in the Department of Human Services and chair of the orientation and mobility division of TAER. Heather presented Daigle with the award.

“I was genuinely honored to present this award to Jillian. We become close with our students in this program each year, but Jillian has become especially dear to me and our family,” Heather said. “I’ve been able to advise and mentor her, listen to her worries about life after graduation and step in as local ‘family’ when needed.”

Daigle is pursuing her master’s degree in special education with a concentration in orientation and mobility. She plans to graduate in August 2017.

“What drew me to this field of study was when I lost my vision,” Daigle said. “Going through orientation and mobility training changed my life and gave me my confidence and independence back. I want to help others who are going through the same thing.”