Known for her effervescence and “fanatical” love for SFA, Kate Childress, coordinator of the Student Success Center, has only one regret — that she can’t replicate herself so she can be in several places at the same time.

Her enthusiasm for the university was recognized and honored recently when the two-time graduate was named a 2023 recipient of the SFA President's Achievement Award. “It’s a true honor to be recognized,” she said. “It’s been said that I’m fanatical about SFA, and those words couldn’t be any truer, based on my experiences as a student and as a staff member.”

Each fall, Childress welcomes a new cohort of about 130 first-generation students to campus in a group known as Generation Jacks. Her aim is to make sure they know there’s a support network that can alleviate their fears while feeding their ambitions.

Menefee was named Texas Academic Advising Network's outstanding advisor of the year during the 2023 TEXANN Conference Feb. 23 in College Station. This award is given to an academic advisor who shows a caring and helpful attitude toward advisees, faculty and staff while also exhibiting the ability to engage in and promote developmental advising.

A 1999 and 2017 graduate of SFA, Menefee has been an academic advisor for more than a decade. When she is not advising, Menefee acts as the NAVIGATE administrator and teaches a specialized nursing section of SFAS 1101.

Kelly was awarded the Academic Assistance and Resource Center Bravo Award for outstanding support of student learning. She actively supports her supplemental instruction leaders and accounting walk-in tutors at the AARC.

Kelly frequently recommends the AARC to students as a place for tutoring sessions to assist them with coursework. She has truly made an impact in providing excellent guidance to her SI leaders and continually recommending students known as some of the best tutors.

Burrow and Olson Beal were elected to one-year officer positions for the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education Community-Engaged Teacher Preparation Topical Action Group. The TAG seeks to build and sustain a collaborative network of teacher educators who are committed to preparing socially just, equity-focused, community teachers with the capacity to enact pedagogies that are culturally relevant, responsive and sustaining.

The TAG will create a space to disseminate and share innovative and best practices in community-engaged teacher preparation from colleges and universities throughout the world. This will foster opportunities for members to collaborate on research, curate resources and work toward promoting policies and strategies to improve teacher preparation programs situated in minoritized communities.

The Office of Multicultural Affairs is holding its sixth annual Women's Empowerment Summit from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. March 17 in the Baker Pattillo Student Center Twilight Ballroom. The summit is free and open to the public.

OMA is opening a call for proposals to any faculty, staff or students interested in presenting at the conference. Conference attendees include students, professional staff, community members and faculty from various institutions across Texas. The summit focuses on empowering women from various backgrounds, so sessions that discuss empowerment on various levels such as professional development, education, etiquette, health and body image are requested. Submit proposals using this form by tomorrow.

Instead of a keynote speaker this year, the summit features a panel discussion during lunch. To secure your lunch, register for the summit by March 13. Check-in for the summit begins at 10:30 a.m.

SFA’s The Big Event brings student volunteers together for one big day of service to express the university's gratitude for the support of the Nacogdoches community. Small teams of students will fan out across Nacogdoches County March 25 to complete projects for local residents and tell them “thank you.” Projects include painting, yardwork, cleaning, trash collecting, window washing and more.

Local residents are encouraged to request a service project for The Big Event each year. This event is for everyone — projects are not accepted based on need or socioeconomic status. Absolutely anyone in Nacogdoches County can apply for a project to be completed by student volunteers. The deadline for requests is March 20.

To mark SFA’s first 100 years, university students, faculty, staff and alumni are holding a friendly competition to see which group can complete the most service hours between now and SFA’s Founders Day, Sept. 18.

The goal is for all four groups to earn a total of 100,000 service hours by that date. If they don’t reach that goal, the competition will be extended to the end of the fall 2023 semester, said Dr. Hollie Smith, executive director of Student Life at SFA.

“We want to get all four groups involved in our centennial celebration, and the best way to do that is by giving back to the Nacogdoches community that has supported SFA for a century, as well as to the communities in which our alumni live now,” Smith said.

Five members of SFA’s League of United Latin American Citizens, often shortened to LULAC, will attend the national 2023 Emerge Latino Conference Tuesday, March 7, through Friday, March 10, in Washington, D.C.

The purpose of LULAC — an endorsed student organization of SFA’s Office of Multicultural Affairs — is to advance the economic condition, educational attainment, political influence, housing, health and civil rights of the Hispanic population of the United States. Locally, it helps create a community on the SFA campus that allows opportunities to learn, grow and advocate for minority groups on campus.

The conference is tailored toward college students and young professionals, with workshops and trainings for various topics affecting the Hispanic and Latin communities. The conference will also host the LULAC Legislative Awards Gala and Awards Ceremony.

Students from the Brother 2 Brother program, housed under the Office of Multicultural Affairs, attended the 2023 Southwestern Black Student Leadership Conference at Texas A&M University in College Station. The conference provided students with the ability to engage and learn from one another in an environment dedicated to empowering students of color. The SFA students received a school spirit award while attending the conference.

SFA's Stone Fort Museum will host a St. Patrick’s Day concert featuring local band El Camino Real de Nacogdoches from 2 to 3 p.m. March 11.

This year’s St. Patrick’s Day concert marks the return of the annual event since the last one was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Carolyn Spears, Stone Fort Museum director, Irish settlers brought their traditions to Nacogdoches in the 19th century, with more than 3,000 Irish people listed on the 1860 census. The St. Patrick’s Day concert will showcase Celtic, bluegrass, traditional country, Appalachian, folk and other music genres.

Jennifer Sommers, director of education and community engagement with the Houston Ballet, recently led an arts-in-education workshop for students in SFA’s James I. Perkins College of Education. Sommers’ visit was the first in a series of experiential learning events made possible by the Margaret Hoover Perkins Research award, administered by Dr. Lauren Burrow, associate professor of education studies. The ongoing partnership with Houston Ballet is set to serve as a model for the types of school and community engagements teacher candidates can adopt when they enter kindergarten through sixth-grade classrooms.

Multidisciplinary artist Stacey Allen, who uses dance, history, theater and educational pedagogy to tell stories, is visiting SFA for a three-part event March 29-30 in collaboration with multiple areas across campus.

Allen’s multifaceted presentation, “The Fairytale Project,” is a historically inspired tale for children of a modern-day African American family reconnecting with their East Texas roots through peculiar encounters with the past. Based on the love story of Jim and Winnie Shankle — founders of the Texas Freedom Colony, Shankleville — their descendants reconnect with what's most important in life: family, faith, love and legacy.

Dr. Sarah Straub, associate professor in SFA’s Department of Education Studies, found funding for and organized the event, which includes assistance from employees in the James I. Perkins College of Education, the Micky Elliott College of Fine Arts, the College of Liberal and Applied Arts, and the Office of Multicultural Affairs.

The Organization for Women's Leadership and Equity is seeking nominations for its third annual Advocate Award. The award recognizes one faculty member and one staff member who embody OWLE’s mission, specifically as advocates for women staff and/or faculty as showed by peer or self-nomination. 

The mission of OWLE is to empower women and support women’s professional advancement while balancing our professional, personal, physical and mental health demands and needs. OWLE advocates for policies that support women staff and faculty by utilizing the unique perspectives of women and our shared experiences. 

Individuals wishing to nominate a staff and/or faculty member for this award should send a one-page letter detailing how the nominated individual embodies OWLE's mission. Include in the letter if the individual is being nominated for the faculty or staff award.

Letters should be sent directly to Dr. Lauren Burrow, associate professor of education studies, at burrowle@sfasu.edu no later than March 31. Include “Nomination for OWLE Award” in the email subject line.

Members of OWLE's Achievement and Advancement Committee will review the nomination letters received. Those selected to receive the award will be notified by April 7.

The Organization for Women’s Leadership and Equity Achievement and Advancement Committee will present “Quick Tips for Raising Your Professional Profile to Award-Worthy Levels.” During the session, several SFA female faculty members will share examples of how to transform work successes and scholarly accomplishments into awards and other high-profile recognitions and opportunities.

Join in person 12:30 to 1:45 p.m. March 31 in the Steen Library Wyatt Room or via Zoom. "Quick Talk" topics will include securing grants, earning faculty leave, applying for external fellowships and more. For more information, contact Dr. Lauren Burrow, associate professor of education studies, at burrowle@sfasu.edu.

The Division of University Marketing Communications would like to recognize and honor Women’s History Month by sharing the stories of faculty and staff who would like to participate in its social media series, #SFAFemaleVoices. Students also can be featured in this series — one per program will be considered for inclusion.

You can be featured by sharing about one of the following:

-the importance of acknowledging Women’s History Month

-how you incorporate female voices or female empowerment in your organization or coursework

-how you honor Women’s History Month

-information about a woman you admire

-a book or film recommendation relevant to female voices

-or anything interesting or fun to share (examples: a meaningful song, a piece of memorabilia or art, etc.).

If you are interested in being featured on SFA’s flagship social media accounts, contact Kerry Whitsett, marketing communications coordinator, at whitsettkd@sfasu.edu.

Nacogdoches community members and SFA faculty, staff and students are invited to the seventh annual International Women’s Day Teach-in from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 15 in the McGee Business Building, Room 133, and via Zoom.

The Organization for Women’s Leadership and Equity is hosting the event. Because the university will be closed for spring break on the official International Women’s Day set for Wednesday, March 8, OWLE members are hosting the teach-in one week later.

The teach-in was established as a local alternative to the nationwide A Day Without a Woman strike in 2017, which was held on International Women’s Day. Akin to a sit-in, the teach-in allows a time to address anything about women and gender.

SFA Today will pause publication during spring break next week. Publication will resume March 14.

SFA Gardens will host the monthly Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 9, in the Pineywoods Native Plant Center’s Brundrett Conservation Education Building.

Greg Grant, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service horticulturist for Smith County, will present “Making Scents of the Genus Narcissus.”

The lecture is free and open to the public, but donations to the series fund are always appreciated. For more information, call (936) 468-4129 or email sfagardens@sfasu.edu.

Women’s Basketball

SFA - 62 vs. New Mexico State University - 47

Baseball

SFA - 2 vs. Northwestern State University - 13

Tennis

SFA - 4 vs. Prairie View A&M University - 0

The SFA School of Art and the Friends of the Visual Arts will present a free, one-night screening of “Icepick to the Moon,” written, edited and directed by Skizz Cyzyk. The screening is at 7 p.m. tomorrow in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House.

“Icepick to the Moon” is a documentary about musician Fred Lane and the Raudelunas arts collective of Alabama, according to information at IMDb. It is the first film featured in the newly revived Friday Night Film Series made possible in part by a grant from the Center for Applied Research and Rural Innovation at SFA.

Have you ever wondered what dogs would say if they could talk? Author Brad Montague shared a whimsical essay on what he thinks dogs would say to humans in his latest newsletter, "Dogs Hold a Press Conference."