Chad Hearne ’04, director of Student Accounts, has been working in the financial industry for more than 10 years but has a secret dream job of being like renowned artist and BTĚěĚĂalumnus Kris Allen.

“I wish that could be my job, you know, singing all the time, but that’s something I never just took that risk to pursue it,” Hearne said.

Hearne sings tenor in an acappella quartet that annually records an acappella CD in Texas. As the tenor, Hearne brings a high, male vocal range to the group. The other members, all from central Arkansas, include a female soprano, a female alto and a male bass.

They first came together in 2014, but the group remains without a name. The quartet has traveled to different areas in Texas, previously Dallas and Lubbock, for the yearly recording of “Praise & Harmony.” Produced by The Acappella Company, the album serves to teach and preserve singing in four-part harmony. Quartets from across the country audition “to sing congregational style and record it.”

“They find these really nice churches that have big auditoriums and there’s wood, and the acoustics are really good,” Hearne said. “We’re just 150 folks singing in an auditorium, and they have mics set up all around to record it.”

Participation is voluntary, so the quartet travels at their own expense. “It is a hobby, but we are passionate about it,” said Hearne. “We just love to sing, so any opportunity we can get to do that, we will.”

These opportunities include leading worship at his church, where they sing acappella as well. Hearne and the alto in the group are neighbors, so they often provide entertainment for their families and friends that include sing-alongs.

“Acapella is kind of cool now, but in the early 80s it was not,” Hearne said.

Singer, songwriter, composer and producer, Keith Lancaster, is well known for bringing attention to this style of music. In 1982, Lancaster formed and founded “Acapella,” an all-male contemporary Christian acapella group in which he sang lead.

“It’s cool to see how far acapella has come,” Hearne said. “Keith has been to a Pentatonix concert, and even the members of Pentatonix now recognize him when he travels for Acapella.”

Lancaster is now the lead trainer of the Praise & Harmony Workshops. For more information about the Praise & Harmony series, visit praiseandharmony.com

After 23 years of leading and making life or death decisions as a U.S. Army officer, Dr. Kaye McKinzie, assistant professor of Management Information Systems at the University of Central Arkansas, was looking for her next move. She asked herself what her motivation was, and it tied back to her responsibilities in the service.

As an officer in the Army, McKinzie knew one of her obligations was to mentor and help her subordinates grow, not only in their jobs, but as people. “I tell people my motto is to ‘teach people how to fish.’ I don’t want to give them a fish; I want to teach them how,” she said. Because of this belief, she knew she wanted to teach.

During her service, McKinzie had a teaching assignment at the Army Logistics Management College and enjoyed it. Her military career started at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York where she received her undergraduate degree. She then received her master’s degree in operations analysis from the Naval Postgraduate School and then a doctorate in operations research and industrial engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.

After retiring in August 2009, McKinzie began teaching as an adjunct at BTĚěĚĂin January 2010. Now as a tenured professor, she serves as Faculty Senate president for the 2016-17 academic school year.

In her opinion, teaching is both a skill and an art. Helping another person master a subject is skill, but being able to relay information in different ways makes it an art.

Teachers help students grow by developing their critical thinking skills and expanding their knowledge, as well as their ability to seek new knowledge. She calls this the light bulb effect, which is seeing a student grasp an understanding of a concept.

“It’s about making people better, about providing them those tools that are going to make them more successful. That’s teaching,” she said.

According to McKinzie, a great teacher has to be invested in their students, “academically sound” and flexible to the adapting environment. Being “academically sound” means knowing one’s subject and how to apply it.

“Here’s the hard part that students don’t like,” McKinzie said. “It also has to be someone who is going to put the rigor into their course and hold the students accountable.”

McKinzie encourages her students to take personality tests and learning style assessments so she can communicate with them more effectively. “If you just do something one way, you’re going to leave a lot of people behind who can’t relate.”

Jennie Strange ’05 has had a passion for the arts since she was four years old, and now she gets to share that passion with the Conway community.

Strange is the founder and owner of Blackbird Academy of Arts, Inc. located in downtown Conway. Providing arts for local children, Blackbird Academy offers creative writing, dance, film, music, sewing, theatre, visual arts and a homeschool arts program.

A graduate of the Schedler Honors College at the University of Central Arkansas, Strange created Blackbird Academy while writing her honors thesis. She decided to use her talents in writing and rhetoric to write an actual performance.

“I’ve been involved in all the arts growing up- music, dance, creative writing- and having enjoyed film and visual arts, I wanted a way to bring them together,” said Strange.

Strange created a team of about 40 of her colleagues who were dancers, actors, musicians, artists and film major students. Working together, they created the production “Blackbird” for her honors thesis.

Strange’s writing professor, Stephanie Vanderslice, was her mentor during her time in undergrad. When Blackbird Academy was still in the beginning stages of becoming a company, Strange sought council from Vanderslice. “She was one of the first people who I actually went and talked to when I first had the idea to start Blackbird Academy,” said Strange.

“Looking back on my experience at BTĚěĚĂand on my thesis, I remembered how powerful it had been to have all those artists working together to create this production and how much of an impact it had on the audience and those who participated. I thought about how to replicate that in a way in which more people could have access to it,” said Strange.

Strange has a range of talented professors and staff who contribute to the outstanding success of Blackbird Academy. Going through a vigorous interview process followed by intense training, the staff is prepared and equipped to give students the best education in the arts as possible. The students and professors put in many hours during the week and weekend to showcase performances throughout the year.

Blackbird Academy started in 2009 and is in the process of finishing its seventh year in Conway. Strange plans to continue to grow the facility and push toward a greater appreciation of the arts for generations to come.

From Nassau, Bahamas to Conway, Arkansas, Nakita Higgins has traveled great lengths to excel in life and make his family and friends back home proud. Holding the title of International Representative in Student Government Association at the University of Central Arkansas is just one of the ways Higgins delved into college and took life by the reins.

Discovering BTĚěĚĂwhile doing a Google search for good schools with environmental science degrees, Higgins found his new home. He solidified his decision to attend BTĚěĚĂafter discovering there was also a track and cross country program. Still wanting to continue his education and fulfill his dreams of being a college athlete, Higgins knew BTĚěĚĂwas the perfect fit.

Shortly after Higgins moved to Arkansas, he became quickly immersed in the culture and made his mark on campus. Higgins not only ran track, but later became a mentor in the Minority Mentorship Program, a resident assistant and a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

“Being involved in campus life is exciting, but I aim to do more,” said Higgins. “I like being able to help people and make a difference in the lives of others. If I can continue to do that in each organization I’m involved in, then I know I’m doing something right.”

Higgins will leave a legacy at BTĚěĚĂthat will live on forever with the naming of the bear statue located in front of Wingo Hall. A contest via OrgSync, UCA’s student organization web application that allows students to communicate, was opened to the campus for naming the new statue and Higgins entered his name “Valor,” which was chosen. “I know our school is big on WWI and WWII, and it meant ‘to be brave in time of war or great hardship,’” said Higgins. “Coming to UCA, I had to be brave. It was my first time that I was going away from home for months in a different country. As a freshman, I felt that we all should be brave when entering college or we won’t make it past our first year.”

It was that type of forward progressive thinking that won Higgins the honor of naming Valor, the Bear statue that is now notoriously used as a main attraction when guests come to tour the campus. “Whenever I’m on this campus, I’m encouraged and reminded to never give up. No matter how hard something seems, never give up,” said Higgins. “It’s here that I’ve faced some of my toughest battles while also creating lasting friendships and creating memories to last a lifetime.”