Author: Donnie Sewell

Corey Alderdice, director of the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, was named to the Arkansas Business 40 Under 40 Class of 2014.

This is the 21st year the weekly business journal has honored business and political leaders under 40 years old. Honorees are nominated by readers and chosen by the editors of Arkansas Business. The publication released the list of this year’s honorees Monday.

Alderdice, 32, was appointed as ASMSA’s director in May 2012. Before coming to ASMSA, Alderdice was a core figure in the planning and the realization of the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science, a school similar to ASMSA located on the Western Kentucky University campus in Bowling Green, Ky. Between 2007 and 2012, he served as the assistant director for admissions and public relations of the Gatton Academy.

The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts celebrated two milestones during commencement ceremonies for the Class of 2014 on May 24 — the 20th graduating class and the 2,000th graduate since the school opened in 1993.

The Arkansas General Assembly created ASMSA in 1991. The first class of students arrived on campus as juniors in August 1993 and graduated in May 1995. Including the 96 graduates of the Class of 2014, 2,031 students have graduated from ASMSA. This year’s graduating class earned more than $16.5 million in scholarship offers.

Jessica Nguyen of Sherwood was recognized as the 2,000th graduate during the ceremonies. Nguyen is the daughter of Hong Thi and Ban Van Nguyen and attended North Little Rock High School East before choosing to come to ASMSA.

Nguyen said she was very excited when she was told she would be recognized as No. 2,000.

The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts’ 20th commencement ceremonies this weekend will include a special milestone — recognition of the school’s 2,000th graduate since it opened in 1993.

This year marks the 20-year anniversary of the first class of students to graduate from the school in 1995. Commencement ceremonies will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday in Horner Hall at the Hot Springs Convention Center.

ASMSA opened in 1993 as the Arkansas School for Mathematics and Sciences after being created by the Arkansas General Assembly in 1991. The school joined the University of Arkansas System in 2004 and became the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts.

The Class of 2014 includes 96 students who earned more than $14 million in scholarship offers and letters of acceptance from 131 institutions of higher education.

Dr. Yang Xu, a member of the Class of 1999, will serve as commencement speaker. Xu is an internist who practices in Hot Springs Village.

Is that movie scene scientifically possible? How can you make a rocket from a two-liter soda bottle? Can you cook food using solar energy? What scientific clues are crucial at a crime scene?

Those are just some of the questions that participants will find answers to during the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts SEI+ Summer day camps in June.

ASMSA is offering the new day camps for rising eighth-, ninth- and 10th-graders. SEI+ Summer is an extension of the school’s popular monthly Science and Engineering Institutes.  The camps will feature two weeklong sessions on June 16-20 and June 23-27.  Two sessions will be held each morning from 9 a.m. to noon and two each afternoon 1 to 4 p.m. Participants may register for a maximum of four sessions over the two-week period.

The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts won first place overall in the school category and three ASMSA students placed in the top four in the individual overall competition at the 2014 Southwestern Energy Arkansas Science and Engineering Fair.

The fair was held April 5-6 at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.

ASMSA won first place overall for the second consecutive year. Also placing in the top five were Little Rock Central High School, second; Haas Hall Academy in Fayetteville, third; Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, fourth; and Alma High School, fifth.

One team from the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts won first place and two other ASMSA teams placed in the top 10 at the annual University of Arkansas High School Programming Contest.

Calling themselves the League of Dapper Gentlepersons, seniors Simon Boerwinkle and Tara Moses and junior Joseph Zhang won first place in the contest held by the University of Arkansas’ Department of Computer Science and Computer Engineering on the Fayetteville campus on March 15. Acxiom and the university’s student chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery sponsored the contest.

Kevin Fialkowski, a senior from Heber Springs, and Merin Duke, a senior from Pine Bluff, won first place in the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts West Central Regional Science Fair and Senior Research Symposium, respectively.

The two competitions are the culmination of yearlong Fundamentals in Research Methods (FIRM) projects in which students choose a science-, math- or humanities-based topic to study. Students who choose science or math topics compete in the science fair while students who study humanities topics compete in the Senior Research Symposium.

The competitions were held Feb. 26-28. Students were recognized during an awards ceremony Friday.

The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts will close at noon today in consideration of issues related to the ongoing fire at the historic Majestic Hotel in downtown Hot Springs.

“I have been in communication with City of Hot Springs officials this morning regarding the fire at the Majestic Hotel complex. With the fire department’s efforts to combat the fire continuing into the weekend and expected, prolonged issues related to water pressure and air quality, campus will close following the (West Central Regional) Science Fair/SRS (Senior Research Symposium) awards ceremony this morning,” Director Corey Alderdice said in an email.

To provide time to flush air systems in affected buildings on campus once the fire has settled, classes at the school have also been canceled for Monday. Students will be able to return to campus beginning at 2 p.m. Monday. The situation will be monitored over the weekend, and students, parents and employees will be notified of any changes of plans.

Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts students will have the opportunity this week to share the culmination of more than a year’s worth of research and study during the West Central Regional Science Fair and the Senior Research Symposium.

All ASMSA students must complete a Fundamentals In Research Methods (FIRM) project during their time at the school. Students pick a subject in the sciences, mathematics or humanities during the second semester of their junior year. They spend a year conducting research on the subject, preparing a paper and give a presentation on the subject during their senior year.

Eight Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts students have been named 2014 National Merit Scholarship Finalists in the 59th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

ASMSA students who were selected as finalists are:

* Simon Boerwinkle, a senior from El Dorado. He is the son of David and Robin Boerwinkle and attended El Dorado High School before ASMSA.
* Russell Bryan, a senior from Conway. He is the son of Sarah and Eric Bryan and attended Conway High School before ASMSA.
* Jesse Dai, a senior from Magnolia. He is the son of Juping Wang and Yonghu Dai and attended Magnolia High School before ASMSA.
* Yeongwoo Hwang, a senior from Jonesboro. He is the son of Kyoungsuk Ahn and Yeonsang Hwang and attended Valley View High School before ASMSA.
* Tara Moses, a senior from Arkadelphia. She is the daughter of Cheryl MacKay and attended Arkadelphia High School before ASMSA.
* William Shattuck, a senior from Mammoth Spring. He is the son of Julia and John  Shattuck and attended Mammoth Spring High School before ASMSA.
* Zaria Sumler, a senior from Poplar Grove. She is the daughter of Avis Donahoo of Poplar Grove and Amoja Sumler of Little Rock and attended Barton-Lexa High School before ASMSA.
* Claire Turkal, a senior from Hot Springs Village. She is the daughter of Margie Gilbertson and Bruce Turkal and attended Hot Springs High School before ASMSA.

The students will have the opportunity to compete for 8,000 National Merit Scholarships worth about $35 million to be announced this spring and summer.

The National Merit Scholarship Corp., located in Evanston, Ill., oversees the scholarship program. The program honors individual students who show exceptional academic ability and potential for success in rigorous college studies. For more information, visit www.nationalmerit.org.