Everything Nac

A career’s worth of experience teaching the blind and visually impaired — and preparing other teachers to do the same — was recently recognized at a national level for Stephen F. Austin State University’s Dr. Shannon Darst, assistant professor of education studies in the James I. Perkins College of Education.

Darst, who is currently the program facilitator for SFA’s visual impairment certification and orientation and mobility certification programs, received the Corinne Kirchner Research Award from the American Foundation for the Blind, an advocate for more than 32 million people living with vision loss, the keeper of the Hellen Keller Archive, and a major sponsor of deafblind-related research and policy.

Darst, along with cocreators Dr. Rona Pogrund of Texas Tech University and Dr. Michael Munro of the Region 6 Education Service Center of Texas, received the award for a learning tool called the Visual Impairment Scale of Service Intensity of Texas, or VISSIT, which identifies the level of instruction a blind student needs in order to succeed.

“For years, people were saying we needed a tool that helps us know how much time to provide our students and how much time to provide for our teams to train them,” Darst said. “But there was never a research-based or statistics-based tool until this.”

Created seven years ago, the validation and reliability testing of VISSIT has been conducted by three different researchers, and all research projects showed that the tool performed as it should each time.

“It’s tried and true,” Darst said. “This kind of changed the field at the educational level.”

The tool has revolutionized the deafblind teaching field, and that lasting impact led to Darst’s award issued earlier this month at the American Foundation for the Blind’s 2022 Leadership Conference.

“Their groundbreaking work is changing the way itinerant vision professionals determine the appropriate type and amount of service each student with a visual impairment should receive,” the foundation announced about the VISSIT team. “This kind of guidance allows for more confidence that [teachers] will have adequate amounts of time to provide quality services to students with visual impairments.”

VISSIT is now in use across the United States, and Darst expects it to be adopted in Canada. Having been extensively involved in visual impairment-related stakeholder groups, Darst’s role in the creation of the tool was on the mathematical and statistical end. She ensured the ranges were correct and that the validity and reliability testing had integrity.

VISSIT resources can be found at tsbvi.edu/vissit. To learn more about the Perkins College of Education, visit sfasu.edu/coe.

By Richard Massey, senior marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.

As families across East Texas make plans for summer vacations and schedule events to keep the kids entertained in the coming months, putting the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Theatre’s SummerStage Festival on the calendar is a must.

This year’s festival runs June 23 through July 8 and features the children’s musical favorite “The Jungle Book Kids,” and “Women Who Weave,” a comedy for young audiences. With its laid-back approach, SummerStage is designed to provide less formal, fun and easy-going live theatre experiences for audiences of all ages, according to Cleo House Jr., director of the SFA School of Theatre and director of “The Jungle Book Kids.”

“The School of Theatre is 100% committed to ensuring that our summer offerings are all about bringing productions that are family friendly, where children can have a great time,” House said. “This summer we’re doing things a little differently because both shows are targeted to the youth, but we are certain that the adults will have a good time, as well.”

“The Jungle Book Kids” is based on the novel “The Jungle Book” by Rudyard Kipling and the beloved Disney film by the same name. In the children’s stage version, the jungle is jumpin’ with jazz in this high-energy show. Audiences will enjoy watching Mowgli, Baloo, King Louie and the gang as they swing their way through madcap adventures, singing along with favorite tunes, including “The Bare Necessities” and “I Wan’na Be Like You.”

“We picked ‘The Jungle Book’ because it is nostalgia for the adults and great fun for the kids,” House said. “We will also be incorporating a great deal of puppetry, which we’re excited about. The puppets will be a collaboration between our lecturer in costume design, James McDaniel, and the student props designer, Jackson Barclay. I’m very excited for the audience to see what we have in store.”

In J.S. Puller’s “Women Who Weave,” 12-year-old Atalanta is convinced that being female means giving up any chance at being heroic. Her mother comforts her with the stories of the Fates, three goddesses who weave the destiny of all human beings. A dream carries Atalanta to the loom of the Fates, where she discovers that heroism has more to do with the decisions we make than the fate we’re born into.

It’s a play that ties mythology to current times, according to CC Conn, professor of lighting and sound design at SFA and the play’s director.

“It offers educational content that is entertaining and lighthearted,” Conn said. “In addition, the School of Theatre will offer sensory-friendly performances on July 6 and 8 at 10 a.m. and July 7 at 6:30 p.m. Sensory-friendly performances are designed to create an inviting audience experience for people with autism and other disabilities.”

The School of Theatre company will provide informational videos about these performances closer to the show dates. Pre-show arts activities will also be offered for the audience to enjoy as well, Conn said.

“The Jungle Book Kids” has music and lyrics by Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman and Terry Gilkyson; with additional lyrics and book adapted by Marcy Heisler; and music adapted and arranged by Bryan Louiselle. Disney’s “The Jungle Book Kids” is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International.

“The Jungle Book Kids” will be presented at 10 a.m. June 29 and July 1 and 7; and at 6:30 p.m. June 30 and July 1, 6 and 8.

“Woman Who Weave” will be presented at 10 a.m. June 23, 24, 30 and July 6 and 8; and at 6:30 p.m. June 29 and July 7. “Women Who Weave” is produced by special arrangement with Playscripts, Inc.

General admission tickets for both plays are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and $5 for students/youth. Pay-what-you-can performances for both shows are on June 30.

All performances are in Kennedy Auditorium, 1906 Alumni Drive, SFA campus. For tickets, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or access finearts.sfasu.edu/purchase. For more information about SummerStage, visit theatre.sfasu.edu.

Mike Karns ’86, Stephen F. Austin State University alumnus as well as founder and CEO of Dallas-based Local Favorite Restaurants and Karns Commercial Real Estate, will give the commencement addresses during the university’s four graduation ceremonies this weekend, one Friday, May 6, and three Saturday, May 7.

Karns received a degree in general business and finance. His restaurant company owns and operates a portfolio of over 50 restaurants across 10 unique brands in four southern states as well as substantial real estate holdings. Karns bought the El Fenix chain in 2008 and has since acquired or created nine other restaurant brands, including Snuffer’s, Meso Maya, Taqueria La Ventana, Village Burger Bar, WokStar and Twisted Root Burger Company.

Before owning restaurants, he worked as a real estate agent, brokering more than 400 transactions for new restaurant locations across 22 states. This gave him the experience necessary to succeed with Local Favorite Restaurants. Karns also owns Sunrise Mexican Foods, a restaurant supply company, and his collective companies employ approximately 2,000 people.

Karns is a member of the Dallas and Aspen chapters of the Young Presidents’ Organization and was a finalist for Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year.

To attend commencement, guests must present tickets to enter Johnson Coliseum. Tickets are free and will help university officials ensure the venue is not overcrowded. Each graduation candidate will be allotted a maximum of 12 guest tickets. All commencements will take place at Johnson Coliseum.

The public also is invited to attend, and community tickets will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis.

Candidates from the College of Liberal and Applied Arts will participate in a ceremony at 6 p.m. Friday, May 6. Candidates from the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, the Department of Human Services and Educational Leadership, the School of Human Sciences, and the Micky Elliott College of Fine Arts will participate in a ceremony at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 7. Candidates from the Rusche College of Business and the Department of Kinesiology and Health Science are slated for the 12:30 p.m. ceremony, followed by the Department of Education Studies and the College of Sciences and Mathematics at 4 p.m.

Degrees to be awarded include 1,205 bachelor’s, 300 master’s and two doctoral degrees. Nearly 500 students will graduate with honors, including 157 cum laude, 152 magna cum laude and 178 summa cum laude. Fifty-two students will graduate with the university scholar designation.

For more information, visit sfasu.edu/commencement.