Author: Donnie Sewell

Dr. Patrycja Krakowiak, a life sciences Instructor of Excellence at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, has been named a Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) recipient.

The award recognizes outstanding science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) teachers who have demonstrated a commitment to professional development, innovative teaching techniques and technology in their classroom. The program is conducted by the National Science Foundation on behalf of The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Dear Members of the University of Arkansas System Community,

I hope this message finds you well as we begin a new chapter in the prestigious history of the University of Arkansas System together. It is with a profound sense of responsibility that I step into the role of president of the state’s largest higher education system. Serving this remarkable system of unique campuses, divisions and units, and its dedicated students, faculty, staff, and alumni is both a genuine honor and a privilege.

The UA System has long been a beacon of opportunity and progress for our state, providing access to quality education, maintaining a crucial role in the economy of Arkansas and preparing future generations of leaders both in Arkansas and around the globe. This legacy is a testament to the dedication of those who came before me, and I am deeply committed to honoring that tradition while guiding us into the future.

As I embark on this journey with you, I am eager to listen and learn. I believe the best solutions and ideas emerge from collaboration and shared purpose. Whether you are a student striving for excellence, a faculty member shaping minds, a staff member supporting our mission, or a community partner or policymaker invested in our success, your voice matters, and I want to hear it.

In the coming weeks and months, I look forward to meeting many of you, visiting our campuses and system locations, and gaining a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. Together, I am confident we can continue to build a system that not only serves Arkansas but also inspires others with its growing impact.

I begin the new year and this journey feeling grateful for the trust placed in me to lead this incredible organization. Please know that my door will always be open, and I welcome your thoughts, ideas, and perspectives. I am eager to work together to shape a future that reflects the boundless potential of the UA System and the state we proudly call home.

Thank you for your continued dedication to the UA System. I am confident that together we can honor the work that’s been done, continue the progress that’s underway, and uncover new concepts and pathways to keep our momentum moving toward a bright future for Arkansas and beyond.

Sincerely,

Jay B. Silveria, UA System President

Students at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts earned recognition at the 59th Arkansas Model United Nations Conference recently held at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. 

Among the recognition students earned were awards for Best Position Paper for a nation and as an Outstanding Delegate representing a nation on a committee. 

Three ASMSA students served as delegates for Denmark at the conference, and they were recognized among the awards for Best Position Papers. The students who represented Denmark were senior Rosie Garner of White Hall, junior Tristan Henson of Maumelle and junior Tatum Polzin of Little Rock. 

Aarush Goyal, a junior from Little Rock, representing Saudi Arabia, was named the Outstanding Delegate for the Executive Board of the World Food Programme committee. 

Other ASMSA students who earned recognition included: 

• Junior Aarush Goyal of Little Rock, senior Padraigh Easley of Conway, senior Shelby Norris of Alma, senior Alan Ye of Conway and junior Nakoa Beattie of Eureka Springs, representing Saudi Arabia, Best Position Paper Honorable Mention and Outstanding Delegation Honorable Mention;
• Senior Alan Ye of Conway and junior Nakoa Beattie of Eureka Springs, representing Saudi Arabia on the Social, Cultural, and Humanitarian Committee, Outstanding Delegate Honorable Mention;
• Junior Tristan Henson of Maumelle, representing Denmark on the Economic & Social Council, Outstanding Delegate Honorable Mention; and
• Senior Paul Jonsek of Hot Springs Village, representing Romania on the Historical Security Council, Outstanding Delegate Runner-Up.

The conference was held Nov. 22-23 at UCA in Conway. The Arkansas Model UN is an experiential learning activity with the primary goal of providing high school students with a unique opportunity to enhance their communication skills, improve critical thinking skills and increase their understanding of diplomacy and international politics. 

The annual conference provides a setting in which students are able to simulate representatives of various countries throughout the world in the decision-making bodies of the United Nations. It provides the students an opportunity to gain an understanding of the history and structure of the international body, according to the conference’s website. 

Kalyn You, a senior at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, was named a 2025 National STEM Festival Finalist.

The National STEM Festival is a nationwide initiative to foster creativity, critical thinking and a passion for STEM among middle and high school students. The Festival accepts entries from students in grades 7-12 that explore STEM innovations, inventions and research addressing real-world problems, according to a release. Entries for the Festival were accepted in six categories: Environmental Stewardship, Future Food, Health & Medicine, Powering the Planet, Aerospace Innovation and Tech for Good.

You of Everton was selected as a Finalist for research conducted during her junior year. Her project focused on new psilocin derivatives that could result in potential new treatments for depression. You’s research was conducted as part of a physical science capstone course taught by ASMSA faculty members Dr. Brian Monson and Dr. Burt Hollandsworth.

You said she used a computational chemistry suite to model psilocybin-related compounds to find correlations and predict potency values for fluorinated psilocybin.

“The goal of my project is to not only find new medicines that could be useful to psychiatry but also to raise awareness for unorthodox treatments for mental health disorders that are more efficacious than conventional ones,” You said.

The competition is sponsored by EXPLR, a streaming video and curriculum service for students in the 5^th through 12^th grades as well as teachers and families.

Filmmaker Roger Beebe will bring a 16mm multi-projector performance to the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts on Thursday, Feb. 13.

Since 2006, Beebe’s work has consisted primarily of multiple-projector performances and essayistic videos that explore the world of found images and the “found” landscapes of late capitalism. The upcoming program celebrates the 25^th anniversary of his first touring program.

Beebe is a professor in the Department of Art and the Department of Theatre, Film, and Media Arts at Ohio State University. He has screened his film around the world, including at the Sundance Film Festival and the Museum of Modern Art as well as other venues such as the CBS Jumbotron in Times Square in New York City, the McMurdo Station in Antarctica, the Anthology Film Archives, The Laboratorio Arte Alameda in Mexico City, the the Los Angeles Filmforum among others. He also ran Flicker, a festival of small-gauge film in Chapel Hill, N.C., from 1997-2000 and was the founder and artistic director of FLEX, the Florida Experimental Film Festival from 2004-2014.

The current touring program includes newer films as well as some of his best-known projector performances, including the seven-projector film “Last Light of a Dying Star.” Beebe will also include a sampling of recent essayistic videos presented as live-narrated documentaries.

The program will be held in the Creativity and Innovation Complex on ASMSA’s campus at 200 Whittington Ave. in Hot Springs. The performance is is sponsored by the ASMSA Art Department. It is free and open to the public. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. with the performance set for 6 p.m.

“We are thrilled to welcome Roger Beebe and his incredibly unique ‘live cinema’ event to campus,” said Dan Anderson, ASMSA’s digital arts instructor. “Roger makes movies on classic 16mm film and creates performances with multiple film projectors in the same way a band would play musical instruments. He is one of the most well-known and active experimental filmmakers of the 21^st century, but his shows must be seen in person to fully appreciate.”

More information about Beebe and his filmmaking may be found at rogerbeebe.com.

Note: This event was originally schedule for Saturday, Jan. 11, but was postponed due to inclement weather.

The STEM Pathways program at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts continues to serve as an important resource for students and educators across the state for the 2024-25 academic year.

The hybrid online learning and teacher professional development program is serving 3,645 students and 93 teachers across the state through its Computer Science Plus, Advance Biology Plus and Advanced Statistics Plus cohorts. The Computer Science Plus Program is serving more than 3,000 students and 50 teachers statewide alone.

The Advanced Biology Plus program is serving 558 students and 38 teachers, an increase over the 2023-24 academic year. There are 40 students and five educators enrolled in the Advanced Statistics Plus program, which is in its third year of a pilot program.

“STEM Pathways continues to thrive thanks to the strong partnership between ASMSA instructors and dedicated participating teachers across the state,” said STEM Pathways Director Lori Kagebein. “Their passion for learning and commitment to providing the best opportunities for their students inspire us year after year. The feedback we receive from the teachers year after year is that the STEM Pathways program, which starts as a mentorship, turns into a supportive family, not just of ASMSA instructors but between the participating teachers as well.”

The STEM Pathways program began in 2015 with the creation of the Coding Arkansas’ Future initiative. That program offered high schools across the state the opportunity to expand their computer science curriculum while receiving guidance and professional development from ASMSA staff members. While ASMSA instructors taught some computer science courses for schools through digital learning, the main emphasis was preparing educators to gain licensure in computer science through the Computer Science Plus program.

That includes offering summer boot camps to introduce teachers to computer science. Those teachers receive guidance throughout the school year from ASMSA, including continuing professional development through weekly video meetings and a follow-up camp at the conclusion of the academic year. The goal is to prepare those educators to earn their license to teach computer science while also becoming the primary computer science teacher at their school.

The program expanded in recent years to offer a middle school coding block and the Advanced Biology Plus program. In the Advanced Biology Plus program, instructors around the state receive professional development from ASMSA’s life science specialists in the instruction of AP Biology. ASMSA’s biology teachers guide camps prior to the beginning of the school year. They then help educators prepare their curriculum for the year and provide unique lab learning activities that the individual schools may not be able to offer otherwise.

The program expanded again in 2022 with the addition of the Advanced Statistics Plus program, providing mathematics educators with instructional assistance and curriculum guidance for statistics students.

STEM Pathways is made possible in part by an annual grant from the Arkansas Department of Education.

“At the heart of ASMSA’s mission is a commitment to ignite the full potential of students and educators across the state,” said ASMSA Executive Director Corey Alderdice. “We are grateful for the longstanding partnership with ADE that helps to make these experiences possible. STEM Pathways fills opportunity gaps and ensures advanced science and math coursework is available in districts throughout Arkansas.”

Schools and educators interested in participating in STEM Pathways can contact Kagebein at kagebeinl@asmsa.org. Additional details are available online at https://asmsa.me/digitallearning.

Ten students from the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts recently received honors in the College Board National Recognition Programs. 

The programs celebrate students’ hard work and academic performance. Students who take eligible PSAT/NMSQT, PSAT 10 or AP eligible exams and meet the score requirements are considered for awards. The five national recognition programs include the National African American Recognition Program, National First-Generation Recognition Program, National Hispanic Recognition Program, National Indigenous Recognition Program and the National Rural and Small Town Recognition Program. 

ASMSA students earning recognition and their recognition program include: 

• Damian Biggs, a senior from Washington County, First-Generation, Indigenous and Rural and Small Town;
• Violet Dailey, a junior from Sherwood, First Generation;
• Alice Dong, a senior from Arkadelphia, First Generation;
• Lakaylah Hall, a senior from Little Rock, First Generation;
• Jaime Hernandez Perez, a senior from Decatur, First Generation and Hispanic;
• Kelvin Orduna, a senior from Huntsville, First Generation and Hispanic;
• Sarah Pham, a senior from Hot Springs, First Generation;
• Finneas Salazar, a senior from Searcy, Hispanic; and
• Sage Torres, a senior from Fairfield Bay, First Generation and Hispanic.

The academic honors offer recognized students an opportunity to share their strong academic achievements with colleges and scholarship programs that are seeking to recruit diverse talent, according to a release from College Board, a mission-driven not-for-profit organization that connects students to college success and opportunity that was founded in 1900. The organization’s membership includes 6,000 educational institutions. 

Students apply for the programs through College Board’s BigFuture initiative, which offers participants opportunities to connect directly with higher education institutions, search for scholarships and explore possible careers. 

Six students from the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts have been named Commended Students in the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program. 

ASMSA students named Commended Students include: 

• Calen Long, a senior from Fort Smith;
• Sarah Pham, a senior from Hot Springs;
• Thor Seay, a senior from Hot Springs;
• Jonathan Tucker, a senior from Batesville;
• Alan Ye, a senior from Conway; and
• Charlotte Young, a senior from Paragould.

About 34,000 Commended Students were recognized across the nation. Commended Students placed among the top 50,000 students in the 70th annual National Merit Scholarship Competition but were not chosen among the finalists. Students take the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test as a junior to qualify for the competition. 

Twelve Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts students earned the Arkansas Seal of Biliteracy for the Fall 2024 semester.

The Arkansas Seal of Biliteracy is awarded each spring and fall to students in ninth through 12th grades who demonstrate a proficiency in English and at least one other language before graduating high school.

The program is sponsored by the Arkansas Foreign Language Teachers Association and the Arkansas Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. The Arkansas Department of Education officially endorsed the seal in June 2018. The Seal of Biliteracy program is recognized in 49 states and Washington, D.C.

ASMSA students who earned the seal this fall include:

• Morgan Broadway, a senior from Mablevale, Spanish;
• Alice Dong, a senior from Arkadelphia, Chinese;
• Madeline Liachenko, a senior from Benton, Russian;
• Emily Lin, a junior from Little Rock, Chinese;
• Preston Lowe, a senior from Mayflower, Spanish;
• Kelvin Orduna, a senior from Huntsville, French;
• Yongjun Park, a junior from Maumelle, Korean;
• Meera Patel, a senior from Hot Springs, French;
• Sage Torres, a senior from Fairfield Bay, Spanish;
• Kris Torres, a senior from Fairfield Bay, Spanish;
• Jonathan Tucker, a senior from Batesville, Spanish; and
• Luis Vidal Jr., a junior from Fort Smith, Spanish.

Since the 2017 pilot year in Arkansas, a total of 6,017 students from 108 high schools around the state have attained this certification across 32 languages other than English, according to a release from the Arkansas Seal of Biliteracy Committee.

Six Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts seniors received full-ride scholarship offers in the 2024 QuestBridge National College Match Program.

The students who received matches include:

• Jaime Hernandez Perez of Decatur, Brown University;
• Hailey Judkins of Benton, College of the Holy Cross;
• Sarah Pham of Hot Springs, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT);
• Katherine Quintanilla of Nashville, University of Pennsylvania;
• Ezekiel Summers of Paragould, Johns Hopkins University; and
• Plinio Tola of Little Rock, Wesleyan University.

QuestBridge is a nonprofit organization that connects exceptional low-income youth with leading institutions of higher education. QuestBridge works with top universities across the country to offer four-year, full scholarships to deserving students who may otherwise be unable to afford to attend those institutions. The organization partnered this year with 52 colleges and universities to offer scholarships at institutions such as Duke University, Columbia University, Yale and others.