Author: Donnie Sewell

Two Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts students placed in the 2025 Soybean Science Challenge, a competition sponsored by the Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board and the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service, at the Arkansas State Science and Engineering Fair.

Juniors Bianca Navarro and Nora Medlock received an honorable mention for their project, “Using Glutathionine to Increase Salt Tolerance in Soybeans,” at the state competition. They also were recognized for their project at the West Central Regional Science in February at ASMSA. Dr. Lindsey Waddell, a geoscience and chemistry Instructor of Excellence, served as their adviser.

“Through the Soybean Science Challenge, students gain valuable insight into key issues affecting crop outcomes while deepening their understanding of sustainable agricultural practices,” said Brad Doyle, a soybean producer from Poinsett County and ASPB board chairman.

The competition encourages junior high and high school students to explore real-world challenges in soybean production and agricultural sustainability. Using soybeans and sustainable farming as the foundation for their science fair projects, students engage in hands-on research and develop practical solutions.

“Congratulations to all the students who competed in the 2025 Arkansas Soybean Science Challenge,” said Julie Robinson, the Soybean Science Challenge administrator. “The work these students do will have a lasting impact on soybean farmers and producers across the state. We hope these students will continue to study agriculture in the future.”

This year, 11 students from across Arkansas were named Soybean Science Challenge winners and earned the title of Soybean Scholar after completing six online courses. These students were recognized for science fair projects that focused on agricultural sustainability and received cash prizes funded by the Arkansas Soybean Promotion Board.

High school students received $400 awards at regional science fairs, with state-level winners earning $1,000 for first place, $500 for second, and $250 for Honorable Mention.

Teachers of winning students were also honored. At regionals, high school teachers received $200 and junior high teachers received $100. At the state level, teacher awards were $300 for first place, $200 for second, and $100 for Honorable Mention.

Claire Green, a 2022 ASMSA alumna, has been recognized with two prestigious national scholarships. Green, a junior at Mississippi State University, has been selected as a Harry S. Truman Scholarship awardee as well as a Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation Scholar.

The Truman Scholarship, which honors the nation’s 33^rd president, is the premier graduate scholarship for aspiring public service leaders in the United States. This year, the foundation selected 54 recipients from 49 colleges and universities from a pool of 743 candidates nominated by 288 colleges and universities, according to a press release from the Truman Foundation. Truman Scholars receive funding for graduate studies, leadership training, career counseling as well as special internship and fellowship opportunities within the federal government. Green may receive up to $30,000 in graduate-study expenses as part of the award, according to a press release from Mississippi State.

Green is a Louis A. Hurst Jr. Presidential Endowed Scholar in Mississippi State’s Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College. Among her campus activities, Green serves as vice president of the university’s Speech and Debate Council, which represents Mississippi State in intercollegiate forensics competitions. Mississippi State won the national collegiate debate championship for a second time in a row at the International Public Debate Association National Tournament in April.

Green is a biochemistry major concentrating in entomology and works in Mississippi State’s Pollinator Health Lab researching honeybees. According to a press release from Mississippi State, Green plans to continue her entomology research in graduate school at the University of York’s Stockholm Environment Institute in the United Kingdom, exploring issues face bees and helping form beneficial policies.

“It is a huge honor, and I’m very grateful to represent Mississippi State,” Green said. “I definitely couldn’t have done it without all the wonderful resources and offices here at MSU. The Truman Scholarship will help support me toward a career in public service. I’m grateful for the resources to do that and hopefully give back to the communities around me.”

The Udall Undergraduate Scholarship Program identifies future leaders in environmental, Tribal public policy and Native health care fields. This year, 55 students from 45 colleges and universities were selected as Udall Scholars from 381 candidates nominated by 175 colleges and universities. That included 38 Scholars selected from the 333 students who applied in the Environmental category.  Each scholarship provides up to $7,000 for eligible academic expenses during the student’s junior or senior year of academic study.

The Hot Springs Sentinel-Record also featured a story on Green's accomplishments, which may be read here.

Photo courtesy of Mississippi State University.

Olivia Busby was selected as the winner of the 2025 Fourth District Congressional Art Competition sponsored by U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman.

Busby, a member of the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts Class of 2025 from Heber Springs, earned the recognition for her piece called “County Fair”. The piece will be placed on display for a year at the U.S. Capitol. Busby also earned fourth place in the competition for a piece called “Lined Bricks”.

The competition is held annually, and each member of the U.S. House of Representatives may host a competition for their district. Top pieces are displayed in Washington, D.C., while other award winners may be displayed in each representative’s offices, both in D.C. and in their home state.

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Busby said she found out she had won this year’s competition in an email from Lola Warren, an ASMSA art instructor. “When I got that email saying I’d won, the only thing I could reply back was a big fat, ‘WHAT DOES THAT MEAN,’ caps and all,” she said. “For me, it means the world. Literally, a wholly different region of the U.S. that I’ve never been privileged enough to visit is going to be able to see not only my work but acknowledge my own origins. It’s very shocking.”

“County Fair” is an acrylic on canvas that is the third part of a series of paintings which aimed to show Southern American nostalgia and culture, she said. “I’ve always been naturally inclined to observe and record what I see through art, and I had always been the ‘art kid’ in elementary school due to winning a duck-stamp art contest in third grade,” Busby said.

She plans to attend the Kansas City Art Institute to major illustration with the desire to work on video game design and creating comics with other creators, calling them her dream jobs. Busby said she was inspired to follow her passion for art by a family member.

“What really solidified this path for me was finding out that my passed-on dad had his own collection of sketchbooks which he worked on despite battling poverty with a family of three,” she said. “It old me that my little habits of doodling that just felt natural should be something that is livable. So, I do my best to put my art out into the world and enjoy it as I see just how skilled I can get. But also, achievements like these are a justice to those like my dad whose art hides due to poor circumstance.”

Busby encouraged other student artists to continue to enter contests such as the Congressional Art Competition. “Never let getting second, third or even 10^th place deter you from putting yourself out there and trying again,” she said.

“I’m grateful to each student who participated in this year’s Congressional Art Competition! I am always immensely proud of each student who takes the time to work hard on their entry and applaud them for their diligence and creativity,” Westerman said in a post announcing the winners on his Facebook page.

Two Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts students earned the Arkansas Seal of Biliteracy for the Spring 2025 semester.

The Arkansas Seal of Biliteracy is awarded each spring and fall to students in ninth through 12^th grades who demonstrate a proficiency in English and at least one other language before graduating high school.

Students who earned the seal this spring and the languages for which they earned recognition include: Titan Dinwiddie, a senior from Sherwood, French, and Carmella Lewis, a senior from Alma, Spanish.

The program is sponsored by 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. The Seal of Biliteracy program is recognized in 49 states and Washington, D.C.

Since the 2017 pilot year in Arkansas, a total of 7,246 students from 120 high schools around the state have attained this certification across 343 languages other than English, according to a release from the Arkansas Seal of Biliteracy Committee.

Kira Burnett, a member of the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts Class of 2025, has qualified to compete in the Stockholm Junior Water Prize national competition.

The Stockholm Junior Water Prize is a competition for students in the ninth through 12^th grade who have developed research projects that can help solve major water challenges. The national competition will be held June 19-22 at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. The national winner will earn a spot at the international competition.

Burnett won first place in the state competition held this spring for her project titled “Urbanization’s Impact on Aquatic Ecosystems: Assessing Phosphorus Transport, Biological Health, and for Endocrine Disruptors.” The competition was judged by the Arkansas Water Environment Association, the state-level Water Environment Federation Member Association. Burnett qualified for the state competition after winning the regional award at the West Central Regional Science Fair at ASMSA in March.

Carmella Lewis, a member of the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts Class of 2025, has been selected to participate in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Summer Research Undergraduate Fellowship (SURF).

Lewis will be participating a 10-week research program in UAMS’ Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology this summer. She will continue research on enzymes that help replicate DNA and contribute to cancer growth which she began during a summer research program at UAMS in summer 2024. Midway through the program, Lewis will have an opportunity to present her research as well as compete in the Arkansas Undergraduate Summer Research Symposium at the end of the program.

Four Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts students have earned the opportunity to compete at the National History Day national competition.

National History Day is 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.

Students who earned recognition at the state National History Day competition on April 5 at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway include:
• The team of Nakoa Beattie of Eureka Springs and Tristan Henson of Maumelle, first place, Senior Group Website;
• Makenna Kutzschebauch of Benton, first place, Senior Individual Documentary; and
• Emily Lin of Little Rock, second place, Senior Individual Website.

Their state contest performances qualified them for the national competition, which is scheduled for June 8-12 at the University of Maryland in College Park, Md. Nearly 3,000 students with their families and teachers from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Island, Department of Defense Schools in the Atlantic and international schools are expected to compete in the national competition.

Eight ASMSA students qualified for the state competition after competing in the regional competition in March. ASMSA competes in the Central Region, which includes Hot Springs, Benton, Bryant and Little Rock area schools. Students who also competed at the state competition were Ridgely Bond of Marion, Violet Dailey of Sherwood, Phoenix Dunkley of Little Rock and Lisandro Ramos of Little Rock.

To learn more about the National History Day national contest, visit https://nhd.org/en/contest/national-contest/.

Corey Alderdice, executive director at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts (ASMSA) in Hot Springs, announced today that he will step down in December after 13 years of leadership at one of the nation’s top residential high schools.

During Alderdice’s tenure, the school saw unprecedented academic growth, significant investment in campus facilities, and expanded access for rural, low-income, and first-generation college pathway students. Under his leadership, ASMSA has been ranked among the nation’s top public high schools by Newsweek, The Daily Beast, The Washington Post, and Niche.com.

Ten juniors from the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts have been selected as QuestBridge College Prep Scholars.

The program provides high-achieving high school juniors from low-income backgrounds tools to help them apply to top colleges across the nation. QuestBridge provides resources such as full scholarships to college summer programs, college prep and scholarship application guidance, a community of supportive peers and other specialized resources to help the scholars get a free head start on the college application process. As seniors, students may apply for QuestBridge’s National College Match program, which connects them with top colleges and universities that offer full-ride scholarships.

ASMSA students selected as 2025 QuestBridge College Prep Scholars are:

• Nakoa Beattie of Eureka Springs;
  • Ridgely Bond of Marion;
  • Matthew Carter of Hot Springs;
  • Sephorah Faiq of Arkadelphia;
  • Jack Ghotra of Little Rock;
  • Tristan Henson of Maumelle;
  • Tanvi Marupally of Conway;
  • Jun Park of Maumelle;
  • Lisandro Ramos of Little Rock; and
  • Paola Sustaita of Sheridan.

Faith Wesley and Giea de los Reyes, both juniors at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts, have been selected to attend the Sewanee Summer Music Festival.

The Sewanee Summer Music Festival is an artistic training program that helps student musicians develop various aspects of musicianship, including musical technique, professional development and other personal skills in an artistic incubator where they work closely with professionals from around the world in an intense yet supportive environment.

Student musicians are selected for one of four programs: Orchestral and Chamber Music, Composition, Operafest and String Academy. It is held annually at Sewanee: The University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn. Participants are selected through a rigorous and highly selective application and audition process. This year’s festival is being held June 15-July 23.

Wesley of Hot Springs will participate in the Composition Program and have the opportunity to study with composers Jorge Variego and Ingrid Stölzel among others and compose for a wide variety of instruments and ensembles, attend masterclasses, study in applied lessons and have their music performed by skilled musicians.

De los Reyes of Hot Springs, who is a percussionist in ASMSA’s Wind Ensemble, will focus on instrumental performance at the program, having the opportunity to perform a professional-level with symphony conductors around the world, study in applied lessons with renowned percussion pedagogues, perform chamber music and study solo repertoire.

Both students said they chose to apply for the program because they are passionate about music and are considering future musical pursuits in both college and their careers.

“I chose music composition because it is the area I am most passionate about, that I felt the most confident about, and it was the one I felt like I could learn the most in,” said Wesley, who plays clarinet and also is a member of ASMSA’s choir. “I’m really looking forward to all of the masterclasses and the workshops. I believe they will be greatly informative. I really hope to get more experience with writing for more unique ensembles, and I hope to continue finding my voice as a composer.”

“Being selected to participate in this program is very important to me because I plan on pursuing a musical career,” de los Reyes said. “Most of my performance skills are secluded to local gigs and band, but this festival will further my experience in other musical fields! I’m excited to spend a month and a half solely dedicated to music alongside people as passionate as me.

“I wanted to participate in this program because I’ve always wanted to perform in an orchestral setting. There’s not a lot of opportunities to perform in orchestras in Hot Springs, but the two times I’ve had the pleasure of performing in one, I’ve always returned a better musician than before. I hope to learn challenging repertoire and really push my capabilities as a percussionist.”

Dr. Thomas Dempster, associate dean for arts and humanities at ASMSA as well serving as the school’s director of bands and as a music instructor, said that the festival accepts a low number of high schoolers overall and only a handful of high school-level composers. He said Wesley was awarded a scholarship to help pay for the program.

“This is an incredible opportunity for both, and I’m wildly excited for both of them,” he said in an email to campus.

Dempster, who has served as Wesley’s primary instructor, said the young composer has been one of the quickest-advancing student composers he has ever taught. “Faith has demonstrated a remarkable sense of circumspection and is eager to hear suggestions and constructive criticism,” Dempster said. “Faith has been a fantastic student composer, and one of the few whose maturation in musical ability, musical experimentation and technical sophistication has grown in real-time just based on our conversations in lessons.”

Dr. Nathan Groot, an ASMSA music instructor, was selected as a student musician for the festival in 2016, the second time he had applied. He said the experience had a large influence over his future music career.

“I was pushed to my limit at Sewanee as a musician and grew immensely as a musician,” Groot said. “Much of what I now play with professional symphonies were pieces that I first studied at SSMF. Many of the students and faculty I worked with then are important professional connections that I rely on now.

“It directly opened opportunities to graduate assistantships and fellowships in my master’s and doctoral programs, and I can point to major parts of my teaching and playing that I can trace back to my time there. I am very excited for Giea and Faith and think this educational experience will open many opportunities for them in their future careers.”

De los Reyes said she was “extremely thankful for the ASMSA Foundation for funding my tuition for the Sewanee Summer Music Festival! None of this would be possible without their generosity. ASMSA really strives to support its students in their pursuits, and I’m so glad I can contribute to this school’s passionate student body.”