Burrow was recently chosen as a National Art Education Association Crayola Creativity Ambassador.

The NAEA and Crayola Education are partnering to offer the Crayola Creativity Ambassadors Program, which provides visual arts education professionals with professional learning, resources and support to cultivate creative leadership teams within their learning communities.

The ambassadors will be immersed in leadership exercises, using creativity as a reflective practice and catalyst for change. They will lead and inspire colleagues to leverage creativity as foundational practice in teaching and learning.

Dr. Barbara Qualls, associate professor in the Department of Human Services and Educational Leadership, and Steven Valkenaar, principal at Bridgeport Middle School and a doctoral candidate in educational leadership, recently presented two sessions at the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals Summer Conference.

The presentations were titled “BMS’s Journey Through Difficult Times!” and “Life Raft for the Political Waterfalls.”

Oliphant, who is a Buddy Zeagler Endowed Professor, serves as SFA's Institutional Review Board's chair, director of the graduate social work program (MSW) and co-director of the Center for Rural Social Work Research and Development.

Oliphant recently acquired a grant from the Episcopal Health Foundation.

Oliphant and Lenola Wyatt will lead the School of Social Work to help develop a community coalition that addresses early childhood brain development in Angelina County.

COVID-19 testing is available on campus by appointment. SFA community members may make an appointment in mySFA under “Important Notifications.”

SFA’s Center for Research Advancing Identities and Student Experiences is partnering with Information Age Publishing to host a new textbook series titled “Identity and Practice in Higher Education-Student Affairs.”

The series is meant to address critical issues in both higher education and student affairs to contextualize how they relate to the development of college student identity. The first project in the text series, “Working While Black: The Untold Stories of a Student Affairs Practitioner,” featured curated narratives about the experiences of Black student affairs professionals in higher education.

“A second volume is under development because of the success of the first one, which made a significant impact on elucidating professionals’ experiences in higher education,” said Dr. Pietro A. Sasso, SFA RAISE Center director and an assistant professor of human services and educational leadership.

Christine “Chris” Sanner Berry and Jimmy “Jim” Berry, both 1985 graduates of SFA, have endowed the new Sanner-Berry Business Professorship in SFA’s Rusche College of Business as part of their long tradition of supporting education inside and outside the classroom.

“We have always believed in the importance of education, both formal education and through life experiences,” said Chris, who earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science and broadfield communications with an emphasis in photojournalism. “Whatever the means of learning people experience — university, trade or apprenticeship — education offers the opportunity to expand their horizons and, by doing so, creates even more opportunity for the next generation.”

Summer is the time for benefits-eligible faculty and staff to enroll or make changes to their insurance and TexFlex spending accounts without a qualifying life event. Changes made during summer enrollment become effective Sept. 1.

Eligible employees can make summer enrollment changes on the Employee Retirement System of Texas website until Friday, July 8.

Employees interested in learning about summer benefits enrollment can attend an informational webinar led by ERS. Register through the Events Calendar.

Human Resources staff members also will be available in the Baker Pattillo Student Center, Room 3.100, to assist faculty and staff who prefer to make benefit changes in person. For a full list of dates and times, visit the Human Resources website.

SFA Gardens will host a houseplant and succulent summer sale from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, July 9, at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center greenhouse, located at 2900 Raguet St.

The sale will feature succulents, cacti and houseplants of various varieties, plus a few other exciting odds and ends. This will be a much smaller event than the SFA Gardens semi-annual plant sales and will offer a very specific selection of plants intended for indoor or special care.

Limited parking will be available at the PNPC greenhouse. Visitors are encouraged to arrive at or after 9 a.m. when the doors will open. For more information, call (936) 468-4404 or email sfagardens@sfasu.edu.

SFA Gardens will host the monthly Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series at 7 p.m. July 14 in the Brundrett Conservation Education Building at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center, located at 2900 Raguet St.

Steven Chamblee, executive director for the Longview Arboretum and Nature Center, will present “The Longview Arboretum: The Good, the Bad and the Muddy.”

As executive director, Chamblee uses his collective experiences to bring vibrant, artistic expression to the garden to inspire educational opportunities for local communities.

Track and field

Seri Geisler, graduate student, placed fifth at the USA Outdoor Championships with a mark of 54.97 meters.

SFA's School of Theatre continues to present its SummerStage Festival through Friday, July 8, in Kennedy Auditorium.

This year’s festival features “Women Who Weave,” a comedy for young audiences, and “The Jungle Book Kids” musical. Students will present “sensory-friendly” performances of “Women Who Weave” at 10 a.m. today and Friday, July 8, and at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow. These performances are aimed at providing a comfortable theatre experience for people on the autism spectrum and with other neurodiverse conditions, offering audience members “sensory” bags containing materials that can help them better navigate the performance and the space. The bags have ear muffs to buffer loud noises, a communication deck (a set of cards with pictures and words used to communicate needs to others), fidget toys and sanitizing wipes, among other items.

“The Jungle Book Kids” will continue its run at 10 a.m. tomorrow and at 6:30 p.m. tonight and Friday, July 8.

Scientists recently discovered a furry and fashionable crab species on a beach in Western Australia.

The crustacean finds and tailors a sea sponge to wear as a hat, which not only makes a fashion statement but also serves as camouflage.

Read more about the stylish sea creature at simplemost.com.