Author: Donnie Sewell

A script that an Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts alumna wrote while a student at the school received recognition in the recent Austin Comedy Film Festival Fall 2021.

A screenplay by Janie Gentry, a member of the Class of 2021, was selected as a finalist for the Best Comedy Feature Screenplay Award at the festival held last week. Gentry wrote “BEST IN CLA.S.S.” for her Creative Writing capstone.

Eleven Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts seniors have been selected as QuestBridge National College Match Finalists.

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 Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts band recently released its concert schedule for the 2021-22 school year.

The ASMSA Wind Ensemble will hold its first performance of the school year at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 28. The concert will be held in the Creativity and Innovation Center on campus. Admission is free. Masks are required on campus. It will also be broadcast live via Facebook Live at www.facebook.com/armathsciarts.

Thursday’s concert will include performances of:

• Prelude and Fugue in Bb Major (BWV 553), attributed to J.S. Bach / arranged by Moehlmann;
• Ouachita by Julie Giroux;
• Prelude on a Gregorian Tune by David Maslanka; and
• Chorale and Shaker Dance by John Zdechlik.

The rest of the concert schedule includes:

• Chamber Ensembles, 7 p.m. Nov. 17;
• Jazz Band and Combos, 7 p.m., Nov. 30;
• Wind Ensemble, 7 p.m., Dec. 8;
• Wind Ensemble, 7 p.m., March 3, 2022;
• Chamber Ensembles, 7 p.m., March 15, 2022;
• Chamber Ensembles, 7 p.m., April 12, 2022 (tentative);
• Wind Ensemble, 7 p.m., April 30 (date may change); and
• Jazz Band and Combos, 7 p.m., May 9, 2022.

The band is led by Dr. Thomas Dempster, music instructor and instrumental ensembles director.

The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts STEM Pathways initiative set an enrollment record this year, serving more than 2,000 students across the state in its Computer Science Plus and Advanced Biology Plus cohorts.

There are 1,678 computer science students statewide enrolled in this year’s Coding Arkansas’ Future cohorts. Those numbers represent about 15 percent of the statewide computer science enrollment. This year’s cohorts includes 51 teachers in the Computer Science Plus Year 1 program and 27 teachers in Computer Science Plus Year 2. The Advanced Biology Plus program is serving 439 students and 43 teachers statewide.

The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts received a $26,235 grant to develop and implement the Summer Acceleration Academy from the Arkansas Department of Education’s Division of Elementary and Secondary Education, Arkansas State University and the Arkansas Out of School Network.

ASMSA’s Summer Acceleration Academy will provide online learning in STEM disciplines that work to eliminate opportunity gaps that exist for students in districts across the state which limit their pathways to advanced science and math coursework.

Sometimes the best way to learn to speak a new language is to have an opportunity to engage in conversations with a native speaker of that language. For the next two years, students taking Japanese language courses at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts will have the opportunity to do so.

Miyu Sugimoto will serve as an assistant teacher to ASMSA Japanese instructor Elizabeth Brown during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school year. ASMSA is the only public school in the state that provides local Japanese language instruction.

The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts Science and Arts Café lecture series will feature topics ranging from time travel to the American art in 1950s to 1970s to Mayan culture among others.

This year, the series returns to a live, in-person event in the Creativity and Innovation Complex as well as being broadcast on the school’s Facebook page at facebook.com/ARMathSciArts. Last year’s series was conducted virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The series is sponsored by Mid-America Science Museum.

Dr. Patrycja Krakowiak, a life sciences instructor at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, has been named a 2021 state finalist for the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

Krakowiak is one of six teachers statewide who were named state finalists for the national teaching award. Forty-seven teachers were nominated for the honor, according to a release from the Arkansas Department of Education Division of Elementary and Secondary Education.

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.

Seven students at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts have been named National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists.

The National Merit Scholarship Corp. announced the names of the Semifinalists for the 67th annual National Merit Scholarship Program on Wednesday. The students who are all members of the Class of 2022 will have the opportunity to continue in the competition for 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth about $3 million that will be offered next spring.