Author: Donnie Sewell

Dr. Brian Monson and Dr. Thomas Dempster have been named associate deans in the Office of Academic Affairs.

Monson, who most recently served as a physics instructor, is the new associate dean for STEM. Monson is in his 22nd year at ASMSA, joining the faculty in August 2000 after previously teaching at the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics and the University of Tulsa. He has served as chair of the Science Department since February 2003.

Dempster, a music instructor and conductor of ASMSA’s bands, is the new associate dean for Arts and Humanities. He joined the ASMSA faculty in August 2018 as the school’s first full-time music instructor. He previously taught at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, South Carolina State University and Claflin University, both in Orangeburg, S.C.

Nasya Choy, a rising junior at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, has been selected to participate in the World Science Scholars 2022 cohort.

World Science Scholars is a program that invites a small group of international high school students with extraordinary mathematical talent to apply their abilities to unexplored disciplines through a yearlong program sponsored by the World Science Festival. Guided by world-renowned experts, Scholars examine the ways that advanced mathematics skills can be applied to solve complex challenges in a wide range of multidisciplinary fields, according to the program’s website.

ASMSA was awarded a $4,500 grant for the school’s Butterfly Garden project from the Toshiba America Foundation.

The grant will help support the continued development of the pollinator garden being constructed by students and faculty members in front of the Student Center. The garden includes plants native to Arkansas and the United States that serves as a pollinator site for butterflies as well as an outdoor education space.

Michaela Stevens won first place in the 21^st Annual Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum Student Essay Contest.

Stevens, a rising junior at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts from Hot Springs, won first place in the ninth- and 10^th- grade category. Contestants wrote essays based on the theme of how individuals or communities have shown strength and resilience to overcome challenges and tragedies. The prompt for Stevens’ age category specifically focused on what we can learn from the way communities responded to a tragedy.

Connor Bailey had a tough challenge in this year’s The Stock Market Game. He set a record in last year’s competition, finishing the Afterschool Yearlong Division with a stock portfolio valued at more than $1 million.

While he didn’t match the value of last year’s portfolio, he not only repeated as the winner of this year’s Afterschool Yearlong Division but also won the Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 divisions as well.

The Stock Market Game is a national program of the SIFMA Foundation that allows students and teachers the opportunity to invest a virtual $100,000 in stocks, bonds and mutual funds in a simulation contest. Economics Arkansas sponsors the game in Arkansas.

Kacie Koen’s plans for this summer are likely much different than what she may have imagined a year ago.

Before coming to ASMSA, Koen, a member of the Class of 2023, had plans to perhaps become a lawyer, but an information session in August 2021 on the Creative Writing Capstone piqued her interest.

A part of the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts’ campus that represents an important aspect of both its past and its future will soon bear the name of one of the school’s earliest supporters.

The University of Arkansas System Board of Trustees approved a resolution on May 26 to formally name the renovated St. Joseph Hospital convent and chapel complex on the ASMSA campus Helen Selig Hall. Selig died on February 18, 2022, after a long-term illness.

The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts held its 28^th annual Commencement celebrating the graduation of the Class of 2022 on Saturday, May 21, at Bank OZK Arena at the Hot Springs Convention Center.

The ceremony honored 103 graduates from 36 counties. State District 84 Rep. Les Warren served as the keynote speaker for the event. The ceremony also featured two student speakers.

The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts placed three teams in the top four at the 2022 TEAMS Engineering Competition.

TEAMS is an acronym for Tests of Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics and Science. The annual competition is sponsored by the Technology Students Association. The competition’s theme is based on the Grand Challenges of Engineering.

The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts recognized students for their academic achievements during the 2022 Honors Convocation held May 16 in the Creativity and Innovation Complex on campus.

Awards for students’ academic achievements were announced for each department — Humanities, Mathematics/Computer Science and Science. The event also included a presentation of special awards and featured two student speakers — seniors Emma Cavaneau of Benton and Stacia Toney of Eudora.