Author: Donnie Sewell

The tragic events and unrest of the past few weeks serve as stark reminders of our nation’s continued struggle with racial equality and justice.  ASMSA’s community of learning stands in solidarity with our students, families, alumni, and colleagues of color against acts of racism, prejudice, and hate.

From the wide array of individual backgrounds and experiences, we strive to weave a tapestry of understanding and growth within the classroom and residential experiences as students learn from and alongside their peers of different backgrounds, faiths, and beliefs.

The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts held it 26^th annual Commencement Ceremony for the Class of 2020 on Saturday, May 23.

This year’s ceremony was unlike the previous 25, however. It was the school’s first-ever virtual commencement, featuring both administrative and student speakers, a video processional and graduates announcing their future plans via video. The commencement and an Honors Convocation recognizing students’ academic achievements for the 2019-20 school year were broadcast on the school’s Facebook page.

The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts recognized students for their academic achievements during its annual Honors Convocation on May 23.

Departmental and special awards as well as recognition for other student achievements are announced at the annual spring semester event. This year’s convocation was held virtually, and it was followed by a virtual commencement, the first in the school’s history.

The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts will hold a virtual Honors Convocation and Commencement Ceremony at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 23.

The virtual ceremony will be broadcast on ASMSA’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ARMathSciArts/.

The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts has faced some unexpected challenges during this spring semester.

Students were required to move out of the Student Center in March because of the developing COVID-19 pandemic. Many other changes for students and staff alike followed, but each has accepted the challenges they’ve experienced.

Eight Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts students earned recognition during the Arkansas Future Business Leaders of America Virtual State Leadership Conference.

Awards for the state FBLA competition were announced during a virtual ceremony held on Monday, May 11. Students who placed in the top four of their individual category are eligible to compete in the FBLA National Leader Conference competition that will be held virtually this summer.

ASMSA students earning recognition on the state level included:

• Jacob Holmes, a junior from Rector, first place in Business Calculation;
• Carson Hardin, a senior from East End, first place in Business Communications;
• Lilli Hickman, a junior from Omaha, fourth place in Economics;
• Team of juniors Peyton Manry of Melbourne, HarLeigh Smith of Altus and Amanda Smothers of Pottsville, third place in Entrepreneuship; and
• Team of seniors Hadley Medlock of Alma and Ben Oliver of Jonesboro, second place in Marketing.

Senior Solomon Ni of Jonesboro was recognized as the outgoing State Speaker.

Video of the ceremony may be viewed at https://asmsa.me/ARFBLA20.

The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts has received a $25,000 grant from the Windgate Charitable Foundation to expand it arts education program.

The grant will be used to offer additional courses in life drawing, printmaking, flameworking, illustration, fiber design, and small metals and jewelry. Additional coursework in Modern Design and Crafts will include furniture and applied design, computer applications in art, 3D modeling and technology, construction and mechanical engineering.

There’s a meme floating around the Internet that says, “With the right music, you either forget everything or you remember everything.”

It may be a simplified view, but it reveals how we feel about music — or perhaps more appropriately, how music makes us feel. A song may bring back a happy memory. It may help us cope with a sad moment. It may relieve stress or help us better focus on a task at hand.

Whatever the reason, music has the ability to reach across all kinds of boundaries and bring people of all kinds of backgrounds together.

The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Science and the Arts won its eighth consecutive school title in the recent Arkansas State Science and Engineering Fair.

Seven ASMSA students also qualified as finalists for the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair based on state science fair results. They joined three ASMSA students who earned ISEF eligibility at the West Central Region Science Fair that was held in February at ASMSA. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 ISEF has been cancelled.

The Arkansas State Science and Engineering Fair was held virtually this year in response to the pandemic. Participants submitted their projects through digital means to be judged. An awards ceremony was held on YouTube and can be viewed at https://asmsa.me/arstatesciencefair20vid.

ASMSA students who earned ISEF recognition at the state science fair included:

• Devin Patel of Blytheville, third place in the Best in State Individual Awards;
• Ethan Talley of Conway and the team of Alexx Weaver of Lonoke and Sophia McLain of Van Buren, tied for fourth place in the Best in State Individual Awards; and
• the team of Reed Karman of Little Rock, Rhiannon Smith of Bismarck and Max Green of North Little Rock, who finished outside of the top four in the Best in State Individual Awards. The team qualified for the ISEF competition because the students who finished in the top two in the Best in State awards had already qualified for ISEF through their regional science fair.

They join Victoria Hwang of Maumelle, Catherine Kwon of Little Rock and Jason Hoang of Hartman, who qualified for ISEF at the West Central Regional Science Fair.

The school title is determined by the number of points each school earned based on place-award winners divided by the total number of projects entered into the fair.

The ceremony included announcements of individual category and special awards. ASMSA students who earned category recognition include:

Animal Sciences — First Place: Amadeo Scott of West Fork; Second Place: Maria Quintero-Pena of White Hall; Honorable Mentions:  Lilli Hickman of Omaha, Peyton Manry of Melbourne and Kaitlyn Pearson of Berryville.

Behavioral and Social Science —  First Place: Team of Reed Karman of Little Rock, Rhiannon Smith of Bismarck and Max Green of North Little Rock; Honorable Mention: Abigail Bryan of Huntsville.

Cellular and Molecular Biology — First Place: Kindall Evans of Dumas.

Chemistry —  Second Place: Brayden Ireland of Harrison; Third Place: Blayne Griffin of Conway.

Computer Science — First Place: Devin Patel of Blytheville; Second Place:  Isha Patel of White Hall; Third Place:  Jaden Turner of Sherwood.

Earth and Planetary Science —  First Place: Team of Sydney Hazeslip of Cabot and Esther Filipek of Bismarck; Third Place: Team of Howard Grant Orlina of Little Rock and Amanda Carson of Russellville; Honorable Mention — Paul McDonald of Pine Bluff.

Environmental Management — First Place: Ethan Talley of Conway.

Mathematics — First Place: Team of Jacob Holmes of Rector and David Huang of Little Rock.

Medicine and Health — First Place: Team of Alexx Weaver of Lonoke and Sophia McLain of Van Buren; Second Place: Bailey Scoggins of Lepanto; Honorable Mention: Team of Nnume Nwanko of Alexander and Macey Ross of Jonesboro.

Microbiology—  Second Place: Team of Laura Hansen of Rogers and Aly Navarro of Hot Springs.

 

Special Awards

Acxiom Award for a project related to computer science: Devin Patel, honorable mention.

American Meteorological Society for an excellent project in Oceanic, Atmospheric or Hydrological Science: Team of Esther Filipek of Bismarck and Sydney Hazeslip of Cabot.

Arkansas Environmental Education Association for a project that promotes environmental literacy in Arkansas: Ethan Talley of Conway.

Association for Women Geoscientists for a top project by a female student in a project related to geoscience: Team of Amanda Carson of Russellville and Howard Grant Orlina of Little Rock.

Computer Science Teachers Association Award: Devin Patel of Blytheville, first place.

Edmond E. Griffin Award for a project that demonstrates creativity in life sciences: Macey Ross of Jonesboro.

Mark Welch Excellence in Animal Science Research Award: Amadeo Scott of West Fork.

Mu Alpha Theta awarded to first place project in Mathematics: Team of Jacob Holmes of Rector and David Huang of Little Rock.

NASA Earth System Science Award for an outstanding project in Earth System Science: Team of Esther Filipek of Bismarck and Sydney Hazeslip of Cabot.

Office of Naval Research awards: Team of Alexx Weaver of Lonoke and Sophia McLain of Van Buren.

Pepperman-Albert Memorial Award for an excellent project related to cancer research: Bailey Scoggins of Lepanto.

Society for Neuroscience, Arkansas Chapter for an outstanding project in neuroscience: Catherine Kwon of Little Rock.

U.S. Air Force awards: Devin Patel of Blytheville.

U.S. Metric Association for top project utilizing metric units: Brayden Ireland of Harrison.

Yale Science and Engineering Association for to project by a junior in areas of computer science, engineering, physics or chemistry: Kindall Evans of Dumas.

Madison Esteves, a senior at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, received the Kye-Yak International Scholarship in the Thea Foundation Film Scholarship Competition.

Esteves of Hot Springs Village created a short film titled “spineless.” The story focuses on a puppet who breaks society’s rules and learns how to be a human. The majority of the silent film is in black and white, a choice Esteves thought put more emphasis on the story.