NACOGDOCHES, Texas - State Rep. and Stephen F. Austin State University alumnus Jason Isaac will offer the commencement address during SFA's fall graduation ceremonies Saturday, Dec. 17.

Isaac graduated SFA with a Bachelor of Business Administration in 1996 with a major in marketing and a minor in management. He met his wife, Carrie, in a history class at SFA, and the couple married a few years after graduation. During his time at SFA, Isaac founded the university's lacrosse team, which is still active today, and he was president of the Association of Sports Clubs.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Stephen F. Austin State University senior Lauren Kelley, of Lufkin, received the Olds Family Outstanding Student Teacher Award, which honors an exemplary student teacher from SFA's Department of Elementary Education each semester.

University field supervisor Barbara Morrison nominated Kelley for this honor, and a committee of six SFA elementary education faculty members, who reviewed teaching videos and additional materials, selected her to receive the award.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Stephen F. Austin State University students in the School of Human Sciences are participating in the annual Chairished Blessings fundraiser, which will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Feb. 10, 2017, at the Nacogdoches County Civic Center.

This event will benefit Love In the Name of Christ, a nonprofit Christian organization in Nacogdoches dedicated to serving local citizens in need. Chairished Blessings will feature dinner, a silent auction and a design competition.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Center for Regional Heritage Research at Stephen F. Austin State University has successfully scanned and modeled in 3-D more than 400 Native American ceramics as part of a $39,600 grant awarded in 2014 by the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Percussion Studio at Stephen F. Austin State University and its director, Dr. Brad Meyer, will coordinate an interactive community performance of Phil Kline's "Unsilent Night" starting at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10, at The Liberty Bell, 422 E. Main St., downtown Nacogdoches.

Participants will enjoy a 45-minute walk through picturesque Nacogdoches while listening to a recording of "Unsilent Night" that has been downloaded to play over a smart device connected to portable speakers or to a CD played over a boom box.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Stephen F. Austin State University's School of Human Sciences is home to the Center for Economic Education, which is one of six centers in Texas designed to help train educators who teach students about economic education.

"Financial literacy is such an important area of concern," said Dr. Nancy Shepherd, who serves as the center's director and program coordinator for family and consumer sciences at SFA. "SFA is very focused on financial literacy, and it is part of our strategic plan."

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The combined choirs at Stephen F. Austin State University, along with the Orchestra of the Pines, will present SFA's traditional holiday concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 9, in W.M. Turner Auditorium on the university campus.

The highly anticipated annual celebration will feature "Hodie," or "This Day," a Christmas cantata by the great English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, according to Dr. Tim King, director of choral activities for the SFA School of Music.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Latin Lumberjacks ensemble at Stephen F. Austin State University will perform an outdoor holiday concert from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 8, in the plaza outside the Baker Pattillo Student Center on the SFA campus.

The Latin Lumberjacks is comprised of members of the Sound Recording Technology program within the SFA School of Music. Directed by Luigi Lazareno, music faculty member, the group will perform a variety of popular holiday songs in salsa style.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Theatre will present the student-directed, full-length play "Really Really" by Paul Downs Colaizzo at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Dec. 1 and 2, and at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, in the Downstage Theatre on the SFA campus.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Percussion Ensemble at Stephen F. Austin State University will preform at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 7, in Cole Concert Hall in the Wright Music Building on the SFA campus.

Directed by Dr. Brad Meyer, director of percussion studies in the SFA School of Music, the SFA Percussion Ensemble will perform works by Nathan Daughtrey, Daniel Levitan, James Campbell and other composers. Daughtrey's "Power Struggle" features an ensemble of four keyboard percussionists and four battery percussionists in a musical battle against each other.