Everything Nac

Student teachers in Stephen F. Austin State University’s Community Responsiveness and Engaged Advocacy in Teacher Education program, or C.R.E.A.T.E., are sharing 30-minute activity lessons from 10 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Monday, March 23, Wednesday, March 25 and Friday, March 27, in the Supporters of Nacogdoches ISD Facebook group.

Children and their families can participate or just watch by joining the Zoom meeting. Suggested materials will be listed for each activity.

“During this unprecedented, unpredictable time, we are emphasizing the C and R in our name by expanding our community and responding to its need for creative online learning,” said Dr. Lauren Burrow, an associate professor in SFA’s James I. Perkins College of Education.

This week, the lessons are based on activities for kindergarten through fifth grade, but Burrow hopes to expand the topics and grade levels.

The C.R.E.A.T.E. student teachers will present their favorite topics and activities for virtual playtime, including reading stories, drawing friendly monsters using the letters in children’s names and making homemade lava lamps and vision boards.

“For now, we wanted to add some ‘edu-tainment’ for at-home enjoyment,” Burrow said. “We will see how this goes and get a sense of what families need from comments during the sessions on Facebook this week.”

C.R.E.A.T.E. was developed in 2018 by Burrow and Dr. Heather Olson Beal, a professor in the Perkins College of Education, to help student teachers receive mentoring from families in the district and volunteer in the community.

“NISD families need some fun, and our student teachers need to keep on teaching, so this is what we have come up with for now,” Olson Beal said. “We wanted to give back to all those NISD families who have been helping our student teachers.”

The sessions will be recorded and stored in the Facebook group for later use by NISD families.

For more information, join the Facebook group or email burrowle@sfasu.edu.

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

To assist in efforts to keep the Nacogdoches community safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, Stephen F. Austin State University has closed the Steen Library, Homer Bryce Stadium and Johnson Coliseum to the public.

Steen Library will remain open during modified hours for faculty, staff and students, according to Jonathan Helmke, director of the library. Faculty, staff and students should consult the library’s website for its latest hours of operation.

Homer Bryce Stadium and Johnson Coliseum will be closed to the public for the foreseeable future, said Ryan Ivey, director of athletics at SFA.

“While we understand and appreciate that members of our community enjoy using the track and stadium on a regular basis, unfortunately, the guidelines from the state, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other agencies require us to close our facilities to ensure the health of Nacogdoches citizens at this time,” Ivey said.

There have been no confirmed cases of the virus on the SFA campus, but university leaders have established several precautions, including canceling on-campus events and classes for the remainder of the semester.

To learn more about SFA’s COVID-19 response, visit sfasu.edu/covid19.

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

The Stephen F. Austin State University Board of Regents voted Friday during a telephone conference meeting to grant SFA President Dr. Scott Gordon the temporary authority to suspend university policies and take any necessary lawful action to help cope with COVID-19 without obtaining prior board approval.

Brigettee Henderson, chair of the Board of Regents, said the authority will automatically terminate once the university resumes normal operations, unless terminated earlier by the board.

“This global pandemic has already caused significant disruption to the university’s operations,” Henderson said. “The situation requires the university’s swift action to help minimize the impact to SFA’s students, faculty, staff and other stakeholders. Granting this authority will help speed up that response time.”

Henderson also recognized SFA’s administrators, faculty and staff for their diligence in dealing with the national emergency.

“Our campus community is to be commended for all the work they are doing to serve our students,” Henderson said. “The main priority is to keep everyone safe while also ensuring our students complete the necessary coursework to progress in their degree program. It has been no small task to convert classes to an online format, but that has been accomplished.”

The university announced March 19 that courses will continue to be taught in an online or distance format for the remainder of the spring semester, as well as throughout the summer semesters.

“Although we have faced many challenges during the past few weeks, we also have seen the SFA and Nacogdoches communities come together,” Gordon said. “Although our students are not here in Nacogdoches physically, they are foremost on our minds. We will continue to do whatever is possible to ensure their educational needs are met.”

During the meeting, the board also approved a wireless networking upgrade and the guidelines for use of the environmental service fee.