The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts won the Best in State title at the 61st annual Southwestern Energy Arkansas State Science and Engineering Fair for the third year in a row.
Nineteen of the 24 ASMSA students who participated in the individual categories were recognized with awards during the state science fair held April 3-4 at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. The school with the highest percentage of students receiving awards in the individual categories earns the Best in State title.
Two ASMSA students placed in the top five in the state Overall Awards category, which included only students whose projects did not place in their regional overall awards category.
Joseph Zhang, a senior from Little Rock, won first place in the state overall category for his computer science project. Senior Jackie Mosely of Mablevale (Saline County) won fifth place in the state overall category for her social science project.
Finishing in the top five in the state overall category made Zhang and Mosely eligible to compete in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, the largest international science fair in the world, in Pittsburgh in May. They will join the three West Central Regional Science Fair winners from ASMSA — seniors Deisy Abarca of Hope, Ashley Barto of Greenwood and Nila Ray of Pine Bluff — for an all-expenses paid trip to ISEF. ASMSA students have won prizes at the prestigious competition in five of the past six years.
Individual Best in State Awards were also announced at the state science fair. Competing for Best in State honors were the regional winners who chose to participate in the state science fair and the state science fair individual category winners. Ray, one of ASMSA’s regional winners, received third place in the Best in State category while Zhang placed fourth.
ASMSA students won first place in six of the 14 individual categories. Those who received individual category awards at the state science fair were:
First place — Zhang, Computer Science; Mosely, Social Science; senior David Zhong of West Memphis and Hot Springs, Engineering: Electrical and Mechanical; junior Taryn Imamura of Conway, Environmental Management; senior Mara Campbell of Little Rock (Saline County), Medicine and Health Science; and senior Jiya Janowitz of Jasper, Physics and Astronomy.
Second place — Senior Jessica Campbell of Little Rock (Saline County), Cellular and Molecular Biology; senior Tyler Cothern of Bigelow, Engineering: Materials and Bioengineering; senior Sophia Ly of Jonesboro, Environmental Management; senior Austin Himschoot of Hardy, Mathematics; and senior Jason Fulbright of Bismarck, Microbiology.
Third place — Senior Katherine Parham of Alma, Behavioral Science; senior Rachel Dawson of Brickeys, Earth Science; and senior Christina Choh of Little Rock, Engineering: Materials and Bioengineering.
Honorable Mention — Senior Andrew O’Neil of Flippin, Behavioral Science; senior Jacob Johnston of Greenbrier, Social Science; senior Katelyn Watson of Jonesboro, Chemistry; senior Tyler Kee of Benton, Earth Science; and senior Alex Harris of Little Rock, Mathematics.
Several ASMSA students also won special awards from several organizations at the state science fair. Those included:
Joseph Zhang — Axciom Award, Computer Science Teachers Association Award, Aerospace Award, Intel Excellence in Computer Science Award, Sigma Xi Certificate of Excellence in Research, and a Navy Special Award;
Jackie Mosley — American Psychological Association Award;
Taryn Imamura— AEF Sustainability Award, Ricoh Sustainability Award, United States Air Force Award, and Genius Olympiad Award;
Katherine Parham — Neuroscience Award;
Nila Ray — Association of Women Geoscientists Award;
Jiya Janowitz — Navy Special Award;
Mara Campbell — Navy Special Award;
Sophia Ly — Stockholm Junior Water Prize; and
junior Britany Nall of Monticello — Arkansas Heritage Commission Award.
Dr. Brian Monson, the director of the West Central Regional Science Fair and a physics instructor at ASMSA, said the students’ performance at the state competition reflected the strength of ASMSA’s research-oriented curriculum. Each student must complete a Fundamentals in Research Methods (FIRM) project during their two years at ASMSA. Students use that project to compete in the regional science fair.