Everything Nac

The Stephen F. Austin State University Charter School’s 12th annual Walkathon has raised over $24,000, a fundraising record for the school, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re incredibly grateful to our community of family, friends and supporters for their generous giving,” said Jordan Wright, Walkathon co-chair and secretary of the SFA Charter School Parent-Teacher Organization. “It’s because of them that we’ve had such a successful fundraiser.”

The Walkathon is the PTO’s only fundraiser each year. Donations usually go toward transportation to learning trips, tickets to the Children’s Performing Arts Series at SFA, author visits and social events, but the school had to postpone those this year because of the pandemic. Instead, the PTO is considering purchasing a shade canopy and additional equipment for the playgrounds.

“This year’s theme was ‘Walk It Out,’” said Abby Scorsonelli, Walkathon co-chair. “We thought it appropriate considering the times. We had to adapt our typical plans due to the public health situation.”

On Nov. 20, students attending in-person classes walked the concourse at SFA’s Homer Bryce Stadium. Students in each grade took turns walking for 20 minutes while practicing physical distancing.

Family and guests weren’t allowed to walk with the students this year, but the Walkathon was broadcast on Facebook Live for the school’s remote learners and students’ fans to cheer them on virtually.

Four platinum sponsors donated more than $750 each to the fundraiser: Nails 2000, TFP Nutrition, Turner Fabrication and West Loop Animal Clinic in Lufkin.

“I am humbled each year by the ever-growing generosity of our community,” said Lysa Hagan, principal and CEO of the charter school.

“Our PTO and Walkathon co-chairs work hard to engage our community members in our Walkathon, including recruiting many to provide video messages encouraging the fundraising efforts of our school family,” Hagan added. “Their unique ideas certainly seem to work, as our students and parents continually surpass all expectations for our Walkathon fundraising goals. We are so grateful!”

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

Nacogdoches Helping Other People Eat food pantry is expanding thanks to a grant that involves a collaboration with three Stephen F. Austin State University schools.

Nacogdoches HOPE is using the funding from a large fiscal year 2021 Infrastructure and Capacity Building Challenge grant awarded by the East Texas Food Bank to purchase a building and property next to the food pantry and Jo’s Diner soup kitchen at 2100 E. Main St. This will help increase the number of individuals who can be served and food distribution, expand services and improve efficiency.

“With this expansion, we’ll be able to better connect clients with needed resources and services,” said Dr. Sharon Ninness, director of the expansion project, grant writer and Nacogdoches HOPE board member. “We look forward to broadening our collaboration with SFA as part of this project.”

Students from SFA’s DeWitt School of Nursing in the College of Sciences and Mathematics, School of Human Sciences in the James I. Perkins College of Education and School of Social Work in the College of Liberal and Applied Arts will gain valuable experience while serving the community, according to Wilma Cordova, professor of social work at SFA and volunteer coordinator for Nacogdoches HOPE.

“It is very common for schools of social work to have resource centers to connect clients to transportation, medical, mental health counseling, employment and child care services,” Cordova said. “To finally have a place to provide direct community support and a training location for our students is an ideal collaboration for the neighborhood, which is located in what the 2020 U.S. Census designated as the tract with the highest level of poverty in East Texas. Establishing this resource at the food pantry is key to helping achieve a healthier community.”

Students from SFA’s School of Social Work have interned at Nacogdoches HOPE during the past year to help with the 144% increase in demand for services since November 2019, according to Cordova.

The new building will have offices for social work interns to provide information and referral services to those in need; for human sciences interns in SFA’s food and nutrition program to provide clients with dietary consultations; and for nursing students and faculty members to conduct wellness checks for individuals who request them.

“This opens up new opportunities for our nursing students to learn and to provide care within the community,” said Michelle Klein, clinical instructor in the School of Nursing. “We are excited to collaborate with SFA’s School of Social Work and School of Human Sciences to improve the health and wellness of so many through Nacogdoches HOPE.”

In addition to food storage, meal preparation and computers clients can use to research healthy recipes and nutrition information, the building will house classes for the Cooking Matters program, a partnership established six years ago between SFA’s School of Human Sciences and the East Texas Food Bank in Tyler. It’s designed to help curb high levels of food insecurity in East Texas while giving SFA students valuable experience.

“This allows our students to demonstrate their nutrition knowledge with interactive education and cooking demonstrations,” said Justin Pelham, clinical instructor of food and nutrition at SFA. “Community opportunities enhance the student-learning experience when working with our underserved populations locally, making a significant impact in the students’ lives well past their undergraduate experience at SFA.”

The new building also will be used to serve more than 50 people during Jo’s Diner lunches. For the safety of its clients and volunteers, Jo’s Diner has been closed to in-person meals since March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but SFA human sciences students and faculty members helped clients by serving to-go lunches from the Lumberjack Express mobile food lab Oct. 14 through Nov. 18.

“The food was purchased by HOPE and prepared in the pantry’s kitchen,” Ninness said. “SFA students planned, prepared, cooked and distributed meals for the lunches under the supervision of SFA faculty members.”

Over six weeks, SFA students served more than 300 meals to members of the Nacogdoches community, according to Dr. Donna Fickes, clinical instructor of hospitality administration at SFA.

“The drive-thru lunches have been well-received,” Fickes said. “As soon as the Lumberjack Express arrives, people start walking up to ask when we will start serving. We will look at restarting our service-learning experience in the spring semester to continue filling this need in our community.”

Lauren Christopher, an SFA food and nutrition senior from Tyler, helped purchase food for the lunches and plan and prepare meals as part of her internship at Nacogdoches HOPE.

“This is a great way for students to get involved with helping their community,” Christopher said. “I encourage SFA students to volunteer and help people in need.”

As Thanksgiving approaches, the food pantry needs more help than ever, Ninness said.

Nacogdoches HOPE is requesting food items, including peanut butter, jelly, pinto beans, rice, spaghetti, spaghetti sauce, Chunky soups and canned meats (chicken, salmon, tuna, chili, roast beef or corned beef hash). For drop-off times, email nacogdocheshope@yahoo.com.

The food pantry also needs monetary donations. To donate by check, PayPal or credit card or through your Amazon and Kroger purchases, visit nacogdocheshope.com.

“A donation of $25 will provide boxes of supplemental food to four families because HOPE purchases food from the East Texas Food Bank for pennies on the dollar,” Ninness said. “Every donation helps, no matter how small. Ninety cents of every dollar donated goes to HOPE’s food program. This organization is operated 100% by unpaid volunteers.”

For information on volunteering at the food pantry and Jo’s Diner, email Cordova at wcordova@sfasu.edu. For information on volunteering to help move items, paint, landscape and engage in other activities related to the expansion project, contact Ninness at sninness@suddenlink.net.

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

When the COVID-19 pandemic moved many college students to online learning, teacher candidates at Stephen F. Austin State University were among them.

Those in SFA’s Community Responsiveness and Engaged Advocacy in Teacher Education program, or C.R.E.A.T.E., saw their usual face-to-face community engagement projects canceled, but they soon found service-learning opportunities through a new partnership formed between C.R.E.A.T.E. and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences at Whiteville.

“Community engagement and service are hallmark experiences of the C.R.E.A.T.E. program, and I did not want students to miss out on this type of authentic learning just because most would not be residing in Nacogdoches during the fall 2020 semester,” said Dr. Lauren Burrow, associate professor of education studies and cofounder of C.R.E.A.T.E.

Dr. Shelby Gull Laird, former assistant professor of forestry at SFA and head of the Whiteville branch of the museum, saw a way to help provide online service-learning projects for SFA teacher candidates and connected Burrow with Brian Wuertz, community engagement educator at the museum.

“I knew this partnership could help SFA teacher candidates develop their teaching and activity creation skills even though they’re working online,” Laird said.

To help the four student teams design family-friendly activities for museum visitors, Wuertz guided them in applying the knowledge and skills they gained through Burrow’s writing methods course and the science education course taught by Dr. Tonya Jeffery, assistant professor of education studies.

“The teacher candidates synthesized our needs with their teacher training to create resources that will engage guests in exploration and inquiry in underutilized outdoor spaces at our museum,” Wuertz said. “In addition to generating curiosity about science and nature, these resources will help promote literacy skills.”

The resources, including activities and books, will become property of the museum.

The teacher candidates said they will apply what they’ve learned during this opportunity in their own communities.

“We learned a lot about community partnerships and how we can work with different organizations in our school districts to design experiences for children that will complement what they’ll learn in the classroom,” said Destinee Davis, an elementary education senior from Tyler. “This experience has been a real eye-opener for me.”

Davis said this lesson prompted her to focus on details like copyrights as well as the big picture of how students from a different state would respond to the material she created for use outside a classroom setting.

“There aren’t many education seniors who can say they’ve collaborated with a museum before,” Davis said. “This project is something I can be proud of, and when it’s time for those future job interviews, I will definitely make sure to mention my experience collaborating with an out-of-state museum to help with student learning.”

For more information on C.R.E.A.T.E., email Burrow at burrowle@sfasu.edu or Dr. Heather Olson Beal, professor of education studies and cofounder of C.R.E.A.T.E, at olsonbehk@sfasu.edu. For more information on the museum, visit naturalsciences.org/visit/whiteville.

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