Serving as dean of students at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts has given Dr. Rheo Morris the opportunity to interact with students and their families from many different regions of Arkansas.
ASMSA has students from 53 Arkansas counties during the 2024-25 academic year. Many of the students come from smaller, rural communities that most Arkansans might not be able to locate on the state map. For Morris, that may be a bit easier this year after she recently completed the Leadership Arkansas program sponsored by the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce/Associated Industries of Arkansas.
Morris was a member of the program’s Class XVIII, which graduated earlier this year. The nine-month program consists of nine multi-day sessions held in different locations throughout the state. The sessions feature Arkansas leaders who represents a wide geographic base and who have diverse backgrounds and vocations. Class XVIII included 53 participants.
“While traveling the state and learning about its industries, I also had a chance to identify some of the communities where my students reside,” Morris said. “Now, I get so excited when I can actually tell a student that I know where somewhere like Waldo is located. It also gives me an opportunity to share with them an industry near their hometown so they have more incentives to return to Arkansas if they leave for college.”
The experience allowed the Arkansas transplant to learn more about the state she now calls home. The program provided her and her cohort-mates the chance to learn facts about the state and its industries of which they were unaware.
“I had no idea I would graduate nine months later and be amazed at the number of industries within our state and the numerous opportunities for native Arkansans and transplants alike,’ she said. “For example, my favorite day included visiting Nucor-Yamato (a steel company in Blytheville) where I was astonished to learn of Arkansas’ massive footprint in the nation’s steel production.”
The Leadership Arkansas class is a great way to network with incredible individuals from across the state, Morris said. Participants were able to learn different approaches to problem-solving from different kinds of stakeholders and experiences.
Morris will use the knowledge and connections she gained through the program to help ASMSA students “plug into their local communities and have a reason to return to or stay in Arkansas after college because of all the opportunities available” within the state.