Author: Donnie Sewell

Rabbit Hole, the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts’ League of Legends esports team, placed second in the state after tournament play on Dec. 14. Their finish marked the conclusion of a good fall overall for all of ASMSA esports teams.

Rabbit Hole is comprised of starters Jonathan Tucker, Tristan Henson, Gage Carr, Andrew Nguyen and Lane De Foor with Ty Carmichael, Quede Martin and Daniel Lee serving as subs. The team is coached by Chris Martinez, a lead technology specialist in ASMSA’s Information Technology department. They played against Fort Smith Southside in the tournament finals.

Bryan Ieamsang, an Instructor of Excellence in French at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, recently earned an international diploma recognizing his fluency in the French language.

Ieamsang received the DALF C2 credential, the highest credential available for nonnative speakers of French. DALF stands for Diplome approfondi de langue française. The diploma is issued by the French Ministry of Education and “certifies the skills acquired in French as a foreign language” for the recipient. It is internationally recognized and valid for life.

Alex Back, a senior at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, recently participated in the 2023 University of Central Arkansas High School Honors Ensemble.

Back, who plays French horn, was among 61 student musicians from across the state who participated in the two-day clinic on Nov. 30-Dec. 1 on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. He was chosen from more than 300 applicants for the clinic.

The new Campus Administration Building at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts currently under construction is nearing the “in the dry” or “dry-in” stage.

The terms are used when the rough exterior, including the base roof, has been completed, allowing the construction crew to begin more interior work in dry conditions. Construction crews are expected to reach the “dry-in” stage of the Campus Administration Building (CAB) by the end of December.

Work began on the $5.25 million, 11,000-square-foot project in the spring of this year with crews clearing a site adjacent to the Student Center, the campus residential building. The project is expected to be completed in spring 2024.

“We are excited to complete the first phase of the physical transformation of the ASMSA campus in this milestone anniversary year,” said ASMSA Director Corey Alderdice. “To date, more than $35 million has been invested in campus facilities since 2010 to ensure our students, faculty, and staff have the appropriate spaces to live, learn and share the ASMSA experience with peers from across the state.”

The CAB will include offices for the director as well as the institutional advancement, finance, human resources, public affairs and admissions departments. Those departments are currently located in the Academic and Administration Building and the Creativity and Innovation Complex. Flexible meeting spaces are also on each floor.

Moving those departments to the new building will allow ASMSA to begin the process of vacating the Pine Street Wing of the former St. Joseph Hospital complex that was the original residential space for students when the school opened in 1993. Students as well as the cafeteria moved to the Student Center when it opened in 2012.

The Pine Street Wing of the building currently houses faculty offices as well as classroom spaces for the school’s arts program. These areas will move to the current Academic and Administration Building and the Creativity and Innovation Complex upon the CAB’s completion. The Facilities Department, which is housed in part of the Cedar Street Wing, will also be relocated. ASMSA will then begin the process of returning control of the hospital complex back to the City of Hot Springs for demolition of the building.“When employees return to campus in January, a campus committee will begin work on the new 2033 Facilities Plan,” Alderdice said.  “This important document will guide the continuing evolution of both ASMSA’s campus as well as a vibrant downtown Hot Springs.”

Families, alumni and other ASMSA stakeholders will have the opportunity to provide feedback on the school’s needs as well as the plan.

Two Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts students received full-ride scholarship offers in the 2023 QuestBridge National College Match program.

Senior Xander Napier of Lamar matched with Grinnell College, a small, private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa. Shea Stabila of Pangburn matched with Amherst College, a small, private liberal arts college in Amherst, Mass.

For the third year in a row, the STEM Pathways program at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts set an enrollment record.

The hybrid online learning and teacher professional development program is serving 3,863 students across the state through its Computer Science Plus, Advanced Biology Plus and Advanced Statistics Plus cohorts as well as by providing curriculum for aditional educators during the 2023-24 academic year. The program set a record last year with 3,315 students enrolled throughout the three cohorts.

The Computer Science Plus program is serving 3,124 students and 62 teachers across the state. There were 2,912 computer science students statewide enrolled during the 2022-23 academic year.

The Advanced Biology Plus program is serving 323 students and 24 teachers through the Plus program as well as an additional  312 students and 31 educators who use the program’s curriculum in their classroom.

The Advanced Statistics Plus initiative is in the second year of its pilot program. It is providing curriculum and support for six instructors and approximately 100 students.

“I am so proud of the ASMSA STEM Pathways teachers, both those providing the support and those supported,” said Lori Kagebein, director of STEM Pathways. “Teachers new to our program are working hard to master the new content, our returning teachers are stepping up to act as mentors and the Pathways instructors are adding more content and supplements to the materials while cultivating relationships in their role as ‘buddy teachers.’”

The STEM Pathways program began in 2015 with the creation of the Coding Arkansas’ Future initiative. That program offered high schools across the state the opportunity to expand their computer science curriculum while receiving guidance and professional development from ASMSA staff members. While ASMSA instructors taught some computer science courses for schools through digital learning, the main emphasis was preparing educators to gain licensure in computer science through the Computer Science Plus program.

That includes offering summer boot camps to introduce teachers to computer science. Those teachers receive guidance throughout the school year from ASMSA, including continuing professional development through weekly video meetings and a follow-up camp at the conclusion of the academic year. The goal is to prepare those educators to earn their license to teach computer science while also becoming the primary computer science teacher at their school.

The program expanded in recent years to offer a middle school coding block and the Advanced Biology Plus program. In the Advanced Biology Plus program, instructors around the state receive professional development from ASMSA’s life science specialists in the instruction of AP Biology. ASMSA’s biology teachers guide camps prior to the beginning of the school year. They then help educators prepare their curriculum for the year and provide unique lab learning activities that the individual schools may not be able to offer otherwise.

ASMSA Director Corey Alderdice noted the STEM Pathways initiative is an important component of the school's legislated mission.

"ASMSA serves as a statewide center of academic equity and opportunity that ignites the full potential of students and educators," Alderdice said. "Since 1999, ASMSA has seen our outreach programs evolve along with new technologies that meet the needs of teachers across Arkansas. As we look ahead to the new online course choice program that is part of the Arkansas LEARNS Act, we believe there will be continued opportunities for ASMSA to exhibit leadership in ensuring students have access to advanced STEM experiences."

STEM Pathways is made possible in part by an annual grant from the Arkansas Department of Education. Schools and educators interested in participating in STEM Pathways can begin enrolling for the 2024-25 academic year by contacting Kagebein at kagebeinl@asmsa.org. Additional details are available online at https://asmsa.me/digitallearning.

Tickets and sponsorships for the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts 30^th Anniversary Gala are now available.

The ASMSA 30^th Anniversary Gala: Ignite, Illuminate, Inspire will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 4, 2024, in the Creativity and Innovation Complex on the school’s campus. To reserve a ticket or sponsorship, visit https://giving.asmsa.org. All proceeds will support the ASMSA Foundation and are tax deductible.

Dr. Burt Hollandsworth, a chemistry instructor at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, and Blayne Griffin, a member of ASMSA’s Class of 2021, recently published a research article in an international academic journal.

Hollandsworth and Griffin are among the co-authors of an article included in the current issue of Polyhedron, an international journal for research in inorganic chemistry. It publishes original, fundamental, experimental and theoretical work that focuses on the areas of inorganic chemistry.

The paper shares findings of research about the synthesis of highly-colored iron coordination complexes with interesting magnetic properties that are of interest as sensors for small molecules, Hollandsworth said. Visit https://asmsa.me/bhpaper23 to read the paper.

Griffin and Hollandsworth are set to have a second paper published in December in Mendelleev Communications, another chemistry journal.

The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts recently recognized educators from across the state with its annual Teacher Impact Award.

The Teacher Impact Award recognizes educators who helped shape and influence incoming students at ASMSA. Students nominated teachers who aided their growth both intellectually and emotionally. Every educator who was nominated received a certificate of recognition. A letter highlighting their recognition also was sent to each educator’s principal.

A committee of ASMSA staff members read through the recommendations to give further recognition to five educators from different regions within the state. These stand-out teachers received an additional gift.

Educators who received additional recognition this year include: Jennifer Armstrong of Lakeside High School in Lake Village; Heather Bradway of Nettleton Junior High School; Regina Davis of Harmony Grove High School in Benton; Arron Oliver of Eureka Springs High School; and Eric Perez of Nashville High School.