Month: April 2021

Public performances are a staple of any school music program. It’s an opportunity for young musicians to display their talents and demonstrate what they have learned throughout the school year. But for more than a year, the COVID-19 pandemic prevented ASMSA’s musicians many opportunities to rehearse together much less perform publicly.

But over the next two weeks, ASMSA music students will hold several spring concerts. The performances will be open to small audiences of performers’ immediate family members, students and ASMSA staff — about 100 people for each indoor performance. The concerts will also be streamed live on the school’s Facebook page — facebook.com/armathsciarts — for those who can’t attend in person.

Fifteen Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts students earned the Arkansas Seal of Biliteracy by demonstrating proficiency in English and at least one other language before graduating high school.

The Arkansas Seal of Biliteracy is awarded each spring and fall to students in ninth through 12th grades and is sponsored by the Arkansas Foreign Language Teachers Association and the Arkansas Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. The Arkansas Department of Education officially endorsed the seal in June 2018.

There were 456 high school students from 27 Arkansas school districts and charter, private or virtual schools and home schoolers who earned the recognition in the spring.

The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts won its ninth consecutive school title in the recent Arkansas State Science and Engineering Fair.

Three ASMSA students also qualified as finalists for the 2021 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair based on state science fair results. Chloe Kirk of Eureka Springs, Soumya Chauhan of Bentonville and Lawson Smith of Jonesboro qualified for the international competition that will be held virtually in May. They join three other ASMSA students who earned ISEF eligibility at the West Central Regional Science Fair that was held in February at ASMSA.

Two teams from the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts earned recognition in the 2021 Arkansas Governor’s Cup Collegiate Business Plan competition, including being the first high school team to place in the top three in a division.

Apollo, a team comprised of juniors Andreas Bradley of Jacksonville and Isaiah Jellenik of Conway, won third place overall in the Small Business Division. This was the first time that a high school team placed in one of the top three spots of the competition. ASMSA has had teams qualify for the finals in the previous three years, but none of them placed in the top three.

A team from the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts won the David Ricardo Division of the Arkansas Economics Challenge held April 8.

The team of seniors Alec Gatewood of Smackover and Bryson Austin of Little Rock and junior Pierce Hickey of Sherwood competed in a division named for the famous British economist. The division is for first-time competitors who have taken no more than one economics course.

Eleven Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts earned recognition at the Arkansas State Future Business Leaders of America Leadership Awards.

The awards were announced during the organization’s virtual state conference on March 29-30. The top four competitors in each category qualified for the FBLA National Conference, which will be held virtually later this year. ASMSA students who qualified for the national event include: