Author: Donnie Sewell

The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts has officially opened the search for the Classes of 2023 and 2024 while taking a new approach to recruiting students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ASMSA is a public residential high school serving academically and artistically motivated students of all background from throughout the state of Arkansas. A cohort of230 students in 10^th, 11^th and 12^th grades attend classes and live on Hot Springs campus in a community of learning unlike any other in the state. The school was established by the Arkansas General Assembly in 1991 and opened in 1993.

This year offers a challenge unlike any other that the school has experienced. As is the case across the state, nation and world, ASMSA is adapting to living through a global pandemic. While members of the Office of Admissions would normally be on the road meeting students at their schools and in their communities across the state, the COVID-19 pandemic has made it unsafe do to so in the present circumstances.

“Our passion for connecting young Arkansans to the opportunities available to them at ASMSA remains as bright as ever,” said Charlie Feick, director of admissions. “The way we connect just has to be a little bit different this year. We are using the additional time we have in the office to expand the ways prospective students are able to interact with ASMSA.

“We have broadened our online information session offerings, digitized our annual Science and Arts Cafés, rolled out new multidisciplinary workshops, and are prioritizing personal and direct engagement with students utilizing phone calls and personalized mail.”

Just as its students persevere and adapt to changing and adverse circumstances, ASMSA has launched new approaches to admissions recruitment in light of the pandemic. While the institution has offered online information sessions previously, it has expanded the number of opportunities to allow students and their families to connect directly from their home with admissions representative, current students and ASMSA faculty members. Online information sessions will be offered throughout the fall and early spring semesters.

In addition of the introductory Life and Learning at ASMSA online information sessions, more than a dozen sessions with specific topics will be provided. Some of the topics covered include science at ASMSA; arts and music; world languages and global learning; humanities; math, computer science and entrepreneurship opportunities; research; residence life; and other topics. Two sessions will focus on the application process.

During these sessions, current ASMSA students as well as members of the faculty and staff will be available to answer questions in addition to admissions representatives. For a full list of online sessions and registration, go to visit.asmsa.org.

In place of physically visiting schools throughout the state, admissions recruiters will conduct video conferencing sessions with students at their current schools. Information with details on how to arrange the video campus visits will be sent to guidance counselors and Gifted and Talented coordinators at schools statewide.

ASMSA will continue to offer opportunities to visit campus through the traditional Preview Days and Focus Weekends. These events present the chance for prospective applicants and their families to meet with current ASMSA students, tour the campus and gain a better understanding of student life at ASMSA. Focus Weekends further allow participants to engage in a two-hour workshop in a subject of interest to them.

“Visiting campus affords families the opportunity to engage directly with current students, faculty, and staff,” Feick said. “Students will spend their remaining years of high school here; it is important they get a sense of the campus culture first-hand in order to envision themselves living, learning, and growing here.”

The format of all on-campus sessions has been adjusted in light of COVID-19 as ASMSA takes the safety and well-being of our current and future students seriously. The number of visitors allowed at one time have been reduced as well as the areas of campus included in the tours. Appropriate social distancing and face coverings are required to help protect our visitors and the students residing on campus.

Following these requirements for campus visitors, current students, faculty and staff has allowed the campus to remain COVID-19 free with zero positive student or employee cases reported to date.

Another positive change ASMSA has made is developing a more user-friendly application portal. Interested students will be able to complete all parts of the application packet within the portal. The checklist allows students to see what components of the application ASMSA has received as well as what still needs to be completed.

Students apply to ASMSA through a competitive admissions process that evaluates high school coursework, ACT/SAT scores, responses to essay questions, recommendation forms and other accomplishments. Finalist candidates are invited to attend Interview Weekends in April. The process is similar to application at selective colleges and universities.

The rigorous applications process assists ASMSA in identifying for admission well-rounded young Arkansans who possess a strong sense of character, actively give to their communities and seek out the most challenging coursework available to them while applying themselves to the best of their abilities.

Students must submit their completed application packet no later than March 1, 2021. To learn more about ASMSA’s application process and the requirements for admission, visit asmsa.org/admissions, call 501.622.5235 or email admissions@asmsa.org.

The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts 2020-2021 Science and Arts Café lecture series will feature topics ranging from gene therapy to Japanese history to the role Hot Springs played in shaping popular music and more.

This year, the lecture series will be conducted virtually through ASMSA’s Facebook page at facebook.com/ARMathSciARts/. The speakers will present their lecture through a combination of Zoom and Facebook Live. Each lecture will last about a half-hour followed by an informal question-and-answer session conducted from queries collected on Facebook.

This year’s lecture series is sponsored by Mid-America Science Museum. The lectures will be at 7 p.m. on Oct. 6, Nov. 17 and Dec. 1 in 2020 followed by sessions on Feb. 2, March 2 and April 6 in 2021.

The dates and speakers for this year’s series includes:

Oct. 6, 2020 — Gene Therapy with CRISPR-Cas9

ASMSA life sciences specialist Dr. Patrycja Krakowiak will explore the latest discoveries and applications of the new breakthrough in gene therapy called CRISPR-Cas9. She will share the origins, summarize the function and discuss the uses of this amazing new tool that could potentially cure most genetic diseases.

In 2020, Krakowiak was named one of 10 recipients of The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation Teacher Innovation Awards, recognized with a regional teacher award for her contributions to the Arkansas Regional Junior Science and Humanities Symposium and named a recipient of the University of Chicago Outstanding Educator Award.

Nov. 17, 2020 — Meiji Restoration

In 1868 after a nearly 250-year period of isolation, a group of insurgents overthrew the Shogunate to reinstate the Emperor to power in Japan. This major shift in government and sudden opening of international trade led to immense changes. Elizabeth Brown, a Japanese instructor at ASMSA, will discuss this major moment in Japanese history.

Brown teaches Japanese language and culture courses at ASMSA. She is a Fulbright scholar, poet and was featured in the September/October issue of HER of Hot Springs magazine.

Dec. 1, 2020 — Hot Springs and Its Roles in Shaping Popular Music

Between the Southern Club, the Arlington, Black Broadway on Malvern and the National Baptist Hotel, Hot Springs occupies an interesting historical space when it comes to popular music — partially due to its organized crime past and partially due to its unique history as a resort town that only cared about the color “green.” Few Hot Springs residents know that some of the kings of rhythm and swing bands held prolonged residencies in town, and fewer still know that acts and bands would frequently try out new material in Hot Springs before playing larger cities and venues. Dr. Thomas Dempster, a music instructor and ASMSA’s band director, will chronicle some of the significant developments and figures to pass through or begin life in Hot Springs.

A lifelong musician, Dempster is a composer, performer, writer and teacher. His original music has been played in more than 30 states and 15 foreign countries. He directs the wind ensemble and teaches various music courses at ASMSA.

Feb. 2, 2021 — Animal Behavior Modification

Have you ever gone to a zoo and wondered how the keepers can control wild animals while your pets won’t even get off the couch when you ask? Here is a little secret — they don’t. The eagle flying over your head at a demonstration has the option to leave at any time and land on anything it wants, including you.

How do zookeepers communicate with animals to get them to perform and return? Deana Hughes, an admissions coordinator at ASMSA, will discuss operant conditioning as well as the selective process used to select animals that become zoo ambassadors. She will focus on how operant conditioning is used to create a language that animals can understand and factors considered to ensure an animal’s success as an ambassador.

For nine years, Hughes has trained raptors, parrots, corvids, shorebirds and the occasional chicken as animal ambassadors for various conversation organizations such as Raptor Rehab of Central Arkansas, the World Bird Sanctuary and the American Eagle Foundation.

She is a 2010 alumna of ASMSA and serves as an admissions coordinator in the school’s Office of Admissions.

March 2, 2021 — How We Know What We Know

Since the late 1980s, astronomers have discovered more than 4,200 planets around other stars. Most of these were discovered using two techniques — the radial velocity technique and the transit technique. Dr. Brian Monson, chair of ASMSA’s Science Department and a physics instructor, will discuss what makes these techniques possible.

Monson also serves as the director of the West Central Regional Science Fair, which leads to the Regeneron International Science Fair. He also teaches a variety of classes such as Optics, College Physics and Folk Music and Acoustics.

April 6, 2021 — Why a Foreign Language

There are numerous reasons to study a second language that go far beyond fulfilling a graduate requirement. ASMSA Spanish instructor Fernanda Espinosa will take a closer look at all of the reasons why learning a second language is beneficial on a personal level as well as for society as a whole.

In addition to teaching Spanish at ASMSA, Espinosa has lived in numerous countries, traveled extensively and fluently speaks English, Spanish, French and Portuguese.  She has presented about incorporating games into the classroom at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith Language Teachers Conference. She is also active in the American Council for Teachers of Foreign Languages and Arkansas Foreign Language Teachers’ Association.

A group of art instructor Sara Henry’s current students are sketching a portrait with charcoal. At least their drawings look like they are using charcoal.

In reality, they are using an electronic pen tablet and computer in a Digital Art class at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts. The One by Wacom pen tablet allows students to create artwork on the computer. The tablet comes with software that allows it to mimic various art tools and supplies, such as charcoal, paint, paint brushes and more.

Henry said it’s an advantage for students to be able to gain experience in different mediums while using one tool.

“You can do can just about anything you can think of — graphite, pastels, water color, acrylic painting,” Henry said. “It’s kind of limitless as long as you have the necessary plugins.”

The tablet is approximately 8 inches wide and 5 inches tall and connects to the computer via a USB cord. The accompanying stylus has small nibs that help the artist create precise marks. The software allows students to zoom in to see small details and back out to see the larger piece in whole.

It also provides students advanced methods that wouldn’t necessarily be possible on paper. Henry used the example of drawing faces. If an artist sketches a face on paper, they may initially draw a grid to determine the proper dimensions for the head. Using pencil, the artist would then need to either erase or somehow incorporate the grid into their drawing.

With the Wacom tablet, students may develop layers within their drawings. So a student could potentially use the same kind of grid to determine dimensions but place it on a different layer than their drawing. Once they no longer need the grid, they may delete that layer, Henry said.

Henry said she previously had considered integrating a digital art aspect into her drawing class. The COVID-19 pandemic which forced ASMSA to move to remote instruction only in the spring helped spur the plans along a little more quickly.

A traditional drawing and painting class would be difficult to do virtually. The supplies required for the class would not be easy to ship to individual students nor would it be convenient for them to submit their assignments. Using the Wacom tablet, however, allows students to create a digital file to turn in when the project is completed. All of the students in class, even if they are present on campus, are participating in the class virtually, she said.

But just because the students are using technology for their assignments doesn’t mean they aren’t learning the basic skills for art created using traditional media.

“I’m still teaching the traditional skills on how to build up layers, how to do shading, how to get a face to look three-dimensional on a two-dimensional plan. They will be able to go into a beginning drawing class in college and have the skills needed,” she said.

That also includes using the stylus to improve their hand-eye coordination. Depending on the setting the student is using, the stylus and board can be very sensitive, allowing the artist to barely touch the stylus to the tablet to create a faint line or press harder for a dark line. It’s a more natural artistic movement than using a mouse to draw on the computer would be.

Henry said she has seen the use of a pen tablet help improve a student’s physical artwork as well. One student in a drawing course during the 2019-20 academic year wanted to use digital methods more than traditional methods. Henry had the student learn the traditional way of drawing first but allowed more work to be completed digitally throughout the year. By the end of the class, the student was drawing strictly on tablet, but their basic skills had improved.

That was what initially gave Henry the idea for a digital class, although she had not taught a Digital Art class previously. This semester’s class has been a learning experience for her as well. She has been drawing using a tablet along with her students.

“It’s been challenging,” she said. “Sometimes if you want just the tiniest line somewhere, it might be difficult to get it the first time, but you just have to practice and put in the time. The good thing is, however, when you’re done for the day, you may just put it aside. It’s not as messy.”

The next project she has planned for the class is developing a character for a comic book. She will give each student a prompt about what their character looks like, what they can do, and other details. They will have to design the character.

After that, the students will have to create their own comic book, creating their own characters and designing a two-page layout complete with coloring and dialogue that tells a short story.

Those projects will showcase the versatility of the Wacom tablet, Henry said. “It’s just one thing that they need — one piece of equipment for many different projects,” she said.

Ghaida Fadah, a junior at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, has been chosen to serve on the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History Student Advisory Council.

The Gilder Lehrman Student Advisory Council is a diverse group of middle and high school students who provide valuable feedback on the institute’s programs and materials while also giving opportunities to do research projects and introduce new projects. Students are recommended to the council by a teacher based on their academic achievements and interest in American history.

Fadah of White Hall was nominated for the council by Dr. Neil Oatsvall, the chair of ASMSA’s Humanities Department and a history instructor. Oatsvall was recently named the institute’s History Teacher of the Year for Arkansas.

Fadah said the current council has around 50 students. The council traditionally has been comprised of students from New York City, where the organization is headquartered, she said. But because of in-person meeting restrictions because of COVID-19, the organization opened the council membership to students around the country. Meetings are conducted virtually, allowing a more regionally diverse group of students to participate, she said.

“They offer so many courses and programs to help teach history,” Fadah said of the institute. “The feedback given by the council helps determine what is used and how effective it is. I wanted to be able to give feedback and make sure we are represented.”

Oatsvall said Fadah stood out to ASMSA’s admissions team as someone with a strong interest in history. She had taken some advanced history courses— such as African American History and AP World History — at Watson Chapel High School, her sending school. Oatsvall serves as Fadah’s capstone project advisor, giving him a personal perspective on her academic interests.

“My impressions of Ghaida so far as her advisor have been very positive,” he said. “She’s bright and hardworking, but more importantly, she’s inquisitive and asks great questions. If she wants to be one, she’ll make a great historian.”

Five Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts students were named National Merit Semifinalists for the 2020-21 academic year by the National Merit Scholarship Corp.

The National Merit Scholarship Corp. announced the names of the Semifinalists for the 66th annual National Merit Scholarship Program on Wednesday. The students who are all members of the Class of 2021 will have the opportunity to continue in the competition for 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth about $31 million that will be offered next spring.

The ASMSA seniors named Semifinalists are:

• Max Green of North Little Rock,
• Alex Guo of Jonesboro,
• Jacob Holmes of Rector,
• David Huang of Little Rock, and
• Catherine Kwon of Little Rock.

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“We congratulate these students for their exceptional accomplishment, and we wish them the very best as they work through the National Merit Scholarship Program's rigorous process,” said Stuart Flynn, dean of academic affairs at ASMSA. “This achievement offers them a learning opportunity that can become a springboard to an extraordinary senior year and the many possibilities beyond.”

To be considered for the National Merit Scholarship Program, students take the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test as a junior. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists represents less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of anticipated graduating seniors.

Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist standing, including a detailed scholarship application that includes information about a Semifinalists academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received.

Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments and potential for success in rigorous college studies. The National Merit Scholarship Corp. is a not-for-profit organization that operates without government assistance. It was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

Scholarships are underwritten by the corporation with its own funds and by approximately 400 business organizations and higher education institutions.

Alec Gatewood, a senior at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, has been selected to study Mandarin Chinese in the Virtual NSLI-Y program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affair’s National Security Language Initiative for Youth. 

Virtual NSLI-Y is a 10-week, beginner-level foreign language and culture experience, in line with the ACTFL World Readiness Standards, that will also introduce participants to the people and culture of places where the target language is spoken. It is the second year of the virtual program. NSLI-Y is part of a U.S. government initiative that prepares American citizens to be leaders in a global world by developing necessary linguistic skills and cultural knowledge.  

Gatewood, a senior from Smackover, said he became interested in learning to speak Chinese while working on an Advanced Research in Entrepreneurship project during his junior year. His team developed a business plan for the Arkansas Governor’s Cup competition to create long-term-use face masks with replaceable filters. Owners would also be provided templates to allow them to personalize their masks. Their goal was to supply the masks to Asian countries, including China. 

The team conducted thorough research on the economies and markets of various Asian countries to develop their business plan. It was during that stage of the project that Gatewood decided he wanted to study Mandarin Chinese. 

“After performing hours of research, I realized that China is a culturally vibrant, economically advanced and rapidly growing nation,” Gatewood said. “My interest in learning Mandarin Chinese was grown immensely!” 

Gatewood said that Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, is one of his “dream” institutions to attend. The university is located in Beijing. To attend, students must have an HSK Level Four language proficiency. HSK levels are determined by an exam. It assesses non-native Chinese speakers’ abilities in using the Chinese language in their daily, academic and professional lives. 

“I hope the 10-week fall virtual NSLI-Y program gives me the ability to get a boost on my current level of Mandarin Chinese so that I will have the option to study at Tsinghua,” he said. 

Gatewood will attend virtual sessions twice a week for 10 weeks. In addition to learning the language, the program will also provide cultural lessons. NSLI-Y also traditionally conducts a summer immersion program, in which participants often live with a host family and attend daily classes over a two-month period. He is hopeful that he will qualify for that program as well should it be re-established. The global study program was not held this past summer because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

For more information on the NSLI-Y Virtual program, visit https://www.nsliforyouth.org/languages-and-program-experience/virtual. 

When a student applies to attend the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, much of the early discussion centers on whether a student will be able to adjust to the rigorous curriculum offered by the school. 

Just as important, though, is how a student will adapt to living in a residential setting away from their families. Will they flourish and make new friends? Will they want to stay in their room, hidden from their classmates? How will they handle the natural stress associated with leaving home while growing to be more independent? 

ASMSA has in recent years expanded programs and services that address these questions. One action the school took was to add a licensed counselor to its staff to ensure students had a professional to reach out to for help or social-emotional guidance as needed. The counselor leads groups that provide students an opportunity to share their feelings and concerns in a constructive setting in addition to individual meetings as necessary. 

An assistant dean of residence life who lives on campus was added to the residential staff last year, providing a full-time position who serves as an experienced administrative presence during the evening hours when students are out of class and to help lead the residential staff, including Residential Mentors (RM). RMs live on the floors with students and lead various educational sessions, conduct room checks and serve as first contact for students. 

This fall completes a three-year process of investment in an updated staffing model and additional personnel that underscores the importance the Residential Life staff play in student support and success. This year, the staff was reorganized to add Residential Experience Coordinators. RECs are live-in staff who have shown a passion for the field of Student Affairs through their degree-program choices or their transferrable experiences, said Dr. Rheo Morris, dean of students at ASMSA. Each of the RECs have master’s degrees. 

“Prior to this position, the RM roles were often viewed as transitional roles held by a person who stayed one or two years,” she said. “It served as a waiting period as some examined what they wanted to do with their careers or a launching pad for them to pursue a career in Student Affairs.” 

The new REC roles demonstrate ASMSA’s commitment to the staff’s professionalism, Morris said.  

“Live-in staff have come a long way from being ‘dorm moms’ and ‘dorm dads’ and now serve in the capacity as paraprofessional counselors, advisers, programmers, and persons who understand the theory behind certain behaviors,” Morris said. 

Liz Carrel, one of the new RECs, has degrees in social work — a bachelor’s from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and a master’s from Barry University in Miami, Fla. She is excited about the opportunity to serve as a mentor to ASMSA students, following the example of her previous mentors, including Dr. Sara Brown, the school’s director of institutional advancement. Brown once served as Carrel’s mentor and counselor when Carrel was a student at National Park College in Hot Springs. 

“I want to mentor and make a difference in our students’ lives just like Dr. Brown made a difference in my life,” Carrel said. “It’s about building community and rapport within our residential life. It’s about supporting the students through the school year and giving them the tools they will need to succeed in the real world.” 

How students gain those tools are vital as well. 

“It’s important that students are participants more than spectators because these skill-building activities will assist them in how to work in groups, lead a team and much more,” Carrel said. 

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Salary increases allowed ASMSA to be more competitive in recruiting talented professionals for the roles. The position and salary are equivalent to a residence hall director on a college campus, but RECs work with a much smaller group of students. 

The changes include a more enriching model for a growing Student Development Program that focuses on Social Emotional Learning. The first three weeks focus on topics such as self-management and hygiene, relationship and communication skills, conflict resolution and self-awareness, Morris said. It is the school's goal to bridge the gaps toward them becoming engaged citizens, she added. 

ASMSA has seven RECs on staff, including four who previously served as ASMSA Residential Mentors, three of whom earned an advanced degree during their tenure at ASMSA. The original plan was to have six, equivalent to the six wings in the Student Center. A seventh REC was added to ensure this year’s cohort of online students have full access to a shared community and set of programmatic experiences.  

Savannah Ramion is one of the former RMs who has become an REC. After earning her master’s degree in College Student Personnel Services from Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, moving to the REC position seemed like a natural step in her career progression as a student affairs professional, Ramion said.  While the two positions are similar, serving as the professionals in the Social Emotional Learning program is the focus for an REC.  

“The SEL programming is going to have a positive impact on student development while at ASMSA, and I am eager to see how staff will be creative in implementing it,” Ramion said. “A residential experience is something that not many high school students can participate in, and we want to give our students a great time here. I love seeing how much the students grow while at ASMSA, both in academics and a residential setting. 

“Sometimes you can see their personal growth over the course of a month or so, but looking back at a student’s first day at ASMSA up to their last day, there is always a big change in them. Whether those changes are through their maturation or watching them use the tools that we’ve taught them for time management, healthy eating and mental health is satisfying.” 

Adrian Tharpe joined the ASMSA staff this year as an REC after serving in student life positions at Murray State University in Kentucky and Middle Tennessee State University. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Organizational Communication from Murray State University and an Educational Specialist degree in Administration and Education from Middle Tennessee State. He is excited about the opportunity to work with ASMSA’s students and to be available as a listener as much as a teacher. 

“I enjoy their ambition. They are so motivated about their education and their gifts. I love hearing about their day, about class, their friends and family. I love that they feel comfortable coming to me about stuff,” he said. 

“Most times anyone that you care for needs to be heard and they need to know that you will be there from the smallest question to the largest issue.” 

Maddisyn Karn is another previous RM who has advanced to become an REC. She was chosen to work with the remote-learning students. While they may not currently be on campus, it’s vital that they recognize they are and remain full members of ASMSA’s community of learning. 

Karn said the Social Emotional Learning aspect of the position aligns with the values she was taught were earning her social work degrees — a bachelor’s from Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia and a master’s from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. She still conducts “floor meetings” with the students and contacts them each individually every week for check-ins, she said.  

“The biggest adjustment is finding ways to build rapport with the new students who are remote. The hybrid part of the position has also allowed me to use my degree more as I am helping [Staci Stich, the school’s licensed professional counselor] with mental health as well as planning SEL programs.” 

Karn said the REC position takes a more hands-on approach with the students. “It allows for more quality and thoughtful interaction with the students. I’m going to approach the job with optimism, an open mind and organization,” she said.  

There are also three Residential Mentors on staff who will continue to work within Residence Life. 

“Residential Mentors are still highly involved in the day-to-day running of the Student Center,” Morris said. “They create and implement programs, serve as mentors and teachers for students, and support the Social Emotional Learning program. They will communicate with parents more regularly to ensure we are all working in the best interest of the student.” 

The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts and the Greater Hot Springs Chamber of Commerce are pleased to announce the 2020 Arkansas Fall Golf Classic will be held on Friday, October 2, 2020 at the Hot Springs Country Club.

We will be providing a first-class experience with social distancing guidelines in place and a maximum of 24 foursome teams. Scheduled tee times begin at 10 a.m. Boxed lunches will be provided.

Proceeds from the Arkansas Fall Golf Classic support the ASMSA Foundation and its efforts to provide expanded opportunities for ASMSA students and programs. To read more about the ASMSA Foundation, please visit our website at www.asmsa.org/giving.

Registration is $500 per foursome. Additional sponsorship opportunities are also available. To register for the tournament, visit https://asmsa.salsalabs.org/golf.

For more information you may contact:

• Sara Brown, Ph.D., ASMSA Director of Institutional Advancement, at 501.622.5474 or by email at brownsa@asmsa.org.
• Betsy Atkins, Hot Springs Chamber Vice President, at 501.321.1700 or by email at betsy.atkins@growinghotsprings.com.

Offline registration is available by contacting Brown at the above contact information.

Dr. Patrycja Krakowiak, a life science specialist at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, was recognized for her contribution to the Arkansas Regional Junior Science and Humanities Symposium earlier this year.

Krakowiak received a Teacher Award for her efforts to encourage the study of science, technology, mathematics and engineering from the regional organization. She was notified by Christine Addo, the project coordinator for the national Junior Science and Humanities Symposium in an email. Krakowiak was nominated for the award by Dr. Jessica Young, an associate professor of physics at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville who serves as director for the Arkansas Regional Symposium. She received a $500 prize for the recognition.

Receiving the award was a surprise, Krakowiak said. She was unaware she was being considered for the award before receiving Addo’s email. She was one of 47 regional winners in the nation, she said.

“I didn’t quite believe it. I didn’t even apply for it, but I was nominated by the regional director,” Kraowiak said.

She said ASMSA had about a dozen students who registered to participate in this year’s regional symposium, which was forced to move to a virtual competition in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic. That was a few more students than who normally participate in the regional competition, but she made the effort to push her students to participate in the symposium this year because of the number of outstanding projects.

The recognition also was a little more special. She would normally split the number of students with projects with Dr. Whitney Holden, who is also a life science specialist at ASMSA, but Holden was off campus for maternity leave in the spring. That meant Krakowiak covered for both.

“Instead of five students for science fair, I had 22 this year. I couldn’t put the personal touches on everything as I normally do. We usually print science fair boards in February, but we moved it up to January this year. I was able to spread the students out,” she said.

Those same projects were used by the students for the regional symposium. Krakowiak said she sees part of her teaching duties as encouraging students to work toward achieving higher goals than they may have reached for before.

“Every student and every project is precious and priceless, but they have to be at the highest level of inquiry. You push those students to reach for the highest level possible for them,” she said.

Krawkoiak said receiving the regional recognition was an encouragement for her to continue striving in and outside of the classroom.

“It’s important because sometimes I wonder did I do enough this year. Did I do enough to promote student learning? This is sort of saying you did. It’s confirmation that I’m doing in students’ lives is important and relevant. It’s affirmation that hard work makes a difference and that other people outside of our institution, students and community are recognizing it,” she said.

By Amy Widner
UAMS Communications Specialist

It doesn’t take long for many young girls to be exposed to messages about what girls “can” and “cannot” do.

Thankfully, Heather Pinckard-Dover never got the memo. She is the first female neurosurgeon to complete a residency at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Arkansas’ only academic health sciences center.

“From the time I was little, my parents were always telling me, ‘You know, a girl can do anything a boy can do,’ so I never really paid attention to gender roles or saw being a woman as a limit to anything I ever wanted to do,” Pinckard-Dover said. “I’ve always just gone through life with that message at heart. It wasn’t until I got older that I realized not every girl gets that talk.”

Pinckard-Dover decided to become a doctor at age 5. She spent most of her childhood in Pine Bluff, where school started to feel easy and she wanted more of a challenge. She applied for the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts (ASMSA) in Hot Springs and attended for her junior and senior year, graduating in 2004. It was at ASMSA, which offers accelerated courses for gifted students in a residential high school setting, that the lightbulb truly went off about what she might want to do with her life.

“I was a senior taking biomedical physics, and we were learning about electricity. My teacher pulled up a video of a man who had gotten a deep brain stimulator for Parkinson’s disease, and I just sat there and literally watched his tremors go away,” Pinckard-Dover said. “He switched on his device and was suddenly able to drink from a cup and hold a pen and write.

“I’d never seen anything in medicine make such a dramatic difference in someone’s life. I said, ‘That’s what I want to do.’”

She went to college at Baylor University in Texas, majored in neuroscience and found a local cardiologist who agreed to mentor her. When it was time to apply for medical school at UAMS, she got in. Not long afterward, Erika Petersen, M.D., started working in the Department of Neurosurgery. An expert in procedures like deep brain stimulation and a female neurosurgeon in a still male-dominated field, Petersen was happy to help.

Heather Pinckard-Dover, M.D., completed her residency in neurosurgery at UAMS in summer 2020, making her the first female to do so in the university’s history

Heather Pinckard-Dover, M.D., and UAMS Neurosurgery Professor Erika Petersen, M.D., prepare for a surgery together.

“During my second year of medical school, she really took me under her wing and showed me what functional neurosurgery was all about,” Pinckard-Dover said. “She showed me the ropes, both in terms of surgery and guiding me around some of the obstacles you can run into as a woman in neurosurgery.”

When it was time to apply for residency, Pinckard-Dover chose neurosurgery at UAMS. She got to work side-by-side with Petersen, who is now the first female neurosurgeon in Arkansas with the rank of professor, and other members of the neurosurgery team.

Even with great mentorship, the seven-year journey through a neurosurgery residency is no walk in the park. Pinckard-Dover still remembers the first few nerve-wracking weeks and months of being on her own to figure things out for the first time. She remembers the occasional patient or attending physician who didn’t realize she was the neurosurgeon or doubted her abilities. This was especially true in spine surgery, where there were long-standing beliefs that women weren’t strong enough to perform some of the procedures. Power tools leveled the playing field, and Pinckard-Dover has built up her strength to the point where she no longer needs them anyway. She also remembers sometimes being treated like she was being bossy or pushy and wondering if she really did anything differently that her male peers.

It has been a long road, but for the last two years she has been co-chief resident with Jerry Walters, M.D. Both finished their residencies in July. Pinckard-Dover said it definitely helped with her journey that the UAMS Department of Neurosurgery under Chair J.D. Day is more diverse than most in the specialty.

Pinckard-Dover said Day sets the right tone for the whole department.

“I don’t see applicants as men/women or by their race – none of that matters as long as the person is dedicated, passionate about neurosurgery and is willing to fight for their patients and their career goals,” Day said. “Heather, Jerry and some of our other residents didn’t always have the support they needed or the examples to look to along their paths to becoming neurosurgeons, but they did it anyway. I like having people on my team with that kind of grit. It tells me they have what it takes to get through residency and be a neurosurgeon.”

Pinckard-Dover is moving on next for a functional neurosurgery fellowship to study deep brain stimulation at the University of Florida, Gainesville, under Kelly Foote, M.D. She will study its use for psychiatric disorders like Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Tourette’s syndrome and is hoping to complete research on its use for obesity. She hopes to return to Arkansas.

Even though Pinckard-Dover is proud of her accomplishments, the mantle of “first female neurosurgery resident” from UAMS doesn’t always feel quite right. Robin Lynn Mitchell was killed in 2004 before she could finish her neurosurgery residency at UAMS.

“She was truly the first female to navigate the system, to tear down some of those walls,” Pinckard-Dover said. “I always want to give her true credit as the first, because her contributions to UAMS have not been forgotten.”