While Makenna Kutzshebauch was a student at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts, one thing seemed almost certain — that she would qualify to compete in the National History Day competition.

Kutzschebauch of Benton, a member of ASMSA’s Class of 2026, had previously qualified to compete in the national competition sponsored by National History Day, an educational, nonprofit organization that promotes history and civics education. The competition is open to middle- and high-school students in five categories: papers, exhibits, performances, documentaries and websites. The categories are divided into junior and senior divisions along with individual and group divisions.

Kutzschebacuch had previously qualified for the national competition as both a sophomore and junior at ASMSA in the documentaries category, creating two short documentaries that focused on the creator of forensic dioramas and industrial radium exposure, respectively.

Eleven students from the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts earned recognition at the 2026 FBLA State Conference and qualified for the FBLA National Conference.

The state conference was held April 7-8 at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock. Students competed in categories that included an objective subject test, performance or presentation or a combination of an objective test and a performance component. The top four competitors in each category qualified to compete at the national competition, which will be held June 29-July 2 in San Antonio.

A team from the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts won top honors at the 2026 Arkansas State Coding Competition.

The team of junior Moses Coronado of Lonoke, senior Colton Melson of Springdale and sophomore Logan Viveiros of Morrilton placed first at the 10^th annual event which was held at the Arch Ford Education Service Cooperative in Plumerville on March 31. The competition was open to all public, private and homeschooled students in the eighth through 12^th grades. Schools were eligible to enter one team with up to three team members.

The competition featured coding challenges of varying difficulty levels and point values. Only one student at a time was allowed to access the computer to enter solutions, which could be created using any programming language or development environment on their local machine. Teams were not allowed to use AI generative models during the competition.

First-place team members were awarded $1,500 in an Arkansas 529 College Savings Plan. ASMSA was awarded $4,000 to be used to support computer science programming at the school.

Luis Vidal Jr. of Fort Smith, a member of the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts Class of 2026, was named a Gates Scholar for the Spring 2026 cycle.

Gates Scholars receive the Gates Scholarship, a highly selective, last-dollar scholarship for outstanding minority high school seniors from low-income households. The scholarship is sponsored by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Kemdi Ekeanyanwu, a student at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts, placed in the top 5 national High School Three-Minute Thesis (HS3MT) competition.

Ekeanyanwu, a junior from Little Rock, was one of four national Honorable Mention recipients in the contest in addition to the one winner. HS3MT is a national competition that challenges high school students to turn research in all disciplines (STEM, humanities, social sciences and more) into clear and powerful presentations, according to the competition’s website. Each talk is limited to three minutes while using one slide and no props. Competitors submit videos of their presentations which are later judged. The competition follows the model for the Three-Minute Thesis competition that features college competitors.

Ekeanyanwu’s presentation focused on his research on the disparity in youth’s cardiovascular health. “As the leading cause of death, heart disease impacts millions (of people) a year and disproportionately affects communities,” he said. “My project aimed to locate the disparity and address it before it solidifies in adulthood by assessing a set of biomarkers.”

The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts held its 32^nd annual Commencement celebrating the graduation of the Class of 2026 at the Oaklawn Event Center on Saturday, May 16.

The ceremony honored 107 graduates from 40 counties. The graduates earned almost $32.5 million in scholarship offers, pushing the overall total to $386.2 million over the school’s history. Megan Reed, Ph.D., MBA, who is a member of ASMSA Class of 2010 and serves as a senior licensing associate at BioVentures, the technology transfer office at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, served as the commencement’s keynote speaker. Grace Ann Conn and Luis Vidal Jr., both members of the Class of 2026, were student speakers.

The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts held its annual Honors Convocation on Monday, May 11. The Honors Convocation is an opportunity to recognize students’ academic achievements for the school year as well as special awards and fellowships.

Zee Kidd, a senior from Little Rock, was featured as a student speaker during the event. Kidd encouraged her fellow members of the Class of 2026 to reflect on how they see the world, each other and themselves. She described how she first felt upon arriving at ASMSA, wondering if she belonged. Her experience as a student resulted in her learning to not view the world for what it is currently but for what it could be.

“Visualize a world where we refuse to see the world for what it is and take action to turn it into what we want it to be,” Kidd said. “Look beyond your doubts and hesitations. Look beyond your insecurities and abandon your preconceptions.”

The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts recognized students for their achievements in the 2026 Arts and Humanities Research Capstone Symposium during its annual Honors Convocation on May 11.

The symposium is an opportunity for ASMSA students to showcase their talents within the arts and humanities. The event, which was held on May 1, features lectures and performances by students in the fields of humanities, creative writing, fine arts and film. The lectures and performances are the result of capstone research projects conducted by the students as a required part of ASMSA’s academic program.

Humanities

1. Paris Goodman, a junior from Black Rock 2. Destiny Martin, a junior from DeValls Bluff
   Best Presentation: Collisa Bucknor, a junior from Little Rock

Creative Writing

Fiction: 1. Priya James, a senior from Mountainburg 2. Clem Sutterfield, a junior from Little Rock 3. Spencer Bryant, a junior from Little Rock

Poetry: 1. Judah Raimondi, a junior from Summit

Creative Writing — Senior: 1. Halie Cook, a senior from Pine Bluff

Best Symposium Reading: Leo Grimes, a junior from Hot Springs

Fine Arts

Junior: 1. Andy Kneebone, a junior from Arkadelphia 2. Cotton Foyt, a junior from Blytheville 3. JD Whitworth, a junior from Paragould

Senior: 1. Coley Rogers, a senior from Cherokee Village 2. Brylee Hughes, a senior from Gurdon 3. KC Cavin, a senior from Mount Vernon

Best in Show: “Before the Fin” by JD Whitworth, a junior from Paragould

Film

1. Addison Schulist, a junior from Russell 2. Dane Adamson, a junior from Lonoke 3. Douglas Reeves, a junior from Sherwood

Several students from the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts earned recognition at the Arkansas State Science and Engineering Fair, including taking top honors in various categories as well as qualifying for the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair.

Miranda Lee, a senior from Conway, won the George Scheffer Best in State Award for placing first in the Best in State Individual Awards category. The team of seniors Nathan Grady of Blytheville, Emily Lin of Little Rock and Kaitleen Toh of Little Rock placed third in the Best in State Individual category. The category features all projects in the competition that includes all category competitors as well as competitors in the ISEF Finalist category.

Lee and the team of Grady, Lin and Toh competed in the ISEF Finalist category at the state event. Each of them had already earned a trip to ISEF by placing in the top three overall projects at the West Central Regional Science Fair held at ASMSA in February.

Five other students earned trips to ISEF through the state competition held at the University of Central Arkansas on April 3. Aarush Goyal, a senior from Bentonville; Nathan Harbut, a senior from Hot Springs; Isaac Cotton, a senior from Stuttgart; and the team of seniors Beau Goldthorpe of Benton and Stevie Watkins of Perryville qualified for the international competition that will be held in Phoenix, Ariz., on May 9-15.

Through qualification at either the state science fair or the West Central Regional Science Fair, ASMSA is set to send 10 students to this year’s ISEF competition, matching the single-most students in a year since 10 qualified for the 2020 ISEF competition. Senior Tanvi Marupally of Conway is the 10^th student who earned an ISEF slot by winning first-place overall at this year’s West Central Regional Science Fair.

When Donovan Hurtarte learned about The Presidential 1776 Award for Civics competition, he saw it as an opportunity he couldn’t ignore.

“I’ve always believed that if something challenges you and aligns with your interests, you should always go for it,” said Hurtarte, a senior from Little Rock.

The Presidential 1776 Award for Civics is a national civics competition that challenges high school students in ninth through 12^th grades to test their knowledge of the founding of America and the ideas that shaped the country. Hurtarte qualified for the in-person regional semifinal round that will be held Saturday, May 2, at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta. Regional semifinals will also be held at presidential libraries in Boston; Dallas; Grand Rapids, Mich.; and Yorba Linda, Calif.