Two Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts students were recognized as national finalists in the American Chemistry Society U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad, and Dr. Burt Hollandsworth was honored as the Central Arkansas ACS Chemistry Teacher of the Year.
Senior Christian Lu of Jonesboro and sophomore Kalyn You of Everton were recognized as national finalists in the competition at the Central Arkansas ACS awards banquet held on April 18 at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. The students participated in the national exam earlier that day at UALR. The national examination takes more than five hours with two written examinations and a lab practical exam.
The April national exam included seven students from across the Central Arkansas region, said Hollandsworth, who serves as ASMSA’s Chemistry Olympiad sponsor. Lu and You qualified for the national exam after taking the local exam at ASMSA in March. Two other ASMSA students — senior Nasya Choy of Conway and sophomore Kaiyan Yu of Benton — placed in the top seven in the region, but rules prohibit a school from entering more than two students in the national exam. Ten students took the local exam.
“I am proud of each student who took both the local and the national exams,” Hollandsworth said. “These are extremely challenging exams that require months of preparation for success. It’s a perfect way for students to showcase their chemistry talents and a reflection of the rigor of the chemistry courses at ASMSA. ASMSA should be proud to be so well-represented!”
Hollandsworth was nominated for his honor as Central Arkansas ACS Chemistry Teacher of the Year by several of his chemistry students. He said he was not expecting to receive such an honor.
“It was definitely a surprising and overwhelming honor to be given recognition as the teacher of the year,” Hollandsworth said. “The nomination is completely student-driven, and that makes the award even more special to more. I feel like the award is mostly a reflection of the talented and driven chemistry students that I am privileged to teach and mentor.
“I look forward to coming to ASMSA every day to see what impactful things our students are doing. It is truly a privilege to teach and mentor such an amazing group of future scientists.”