The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts kicked off its 30-year anniversary celebration by recognizing the contributions of both current and former faculty during a luncheon on Wednesday.
August 23 is celebrated annually as ASMSA’s Founders Day. On Aug. 23, 1993, the school’s first students began classes at what was then known as the Arkansas School for Mathematics and Sciences. Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023, marked the three decades since that inaugural day of instruction.
Faculty members from across the school’s past and present gathered for a luncheon, recognition of their service and a beam-signing for the new Campus Administration Building currently under construction.
Ernestine Ross, a founding faculty member who continues to teach in the Humanities Department, was recognized for her dedication to the school and its students. ASMSA Director Corey Alderdice presented Ross with a watch and a bouquet of flowers to celebrate her 30 years at the school.
Several other retired faculty and staff members were officially recognized for their contributions to the institution as well.
The event also included several featured speakers, including Alderdice who spoke about the challenges the school faced during its early years.
“The story of ASMSA is often one of underestimation and overcoming odds,” he said. “And with each challenge, our faculty, staff and friends have sought solutions and continued to carry the promise forward.
“But perhaps the most notable way in which the odds have been overcome—again and again—are for the young people from rural communities, families with limited resources and under-resourced schools who have often stepped out on faith in search of growth and greater promise. Yes, so many of our colleagues have overcome odds to ensure ASMSA’s success, but these young people who risk comfort and familiarity are what make this work so meaningful.”
Alderdice spoke about the physical transformation of campus that began with the addition of the Student Center and has been followed over the past decade with the construction of the Creativity and Innovation Complex, restoration of Selig Hall and the current administration building construction. He highlighted the growth of the Arts program to meet its legislated mission, weathering the global COVID-19 pandemic and the growth of endowment funds that support classroom innovation, student success and the school’s development efforts.
He also spoke about the challenges the school still faces, including a rapidly changing educational landscape in the state where school choice will become an even bigger.
“We have to constantly remind ourselves of the need for ASMSA to lead—to be the example of what can be accomplished when students are given the opportunity to ignite their full potential. How we work collectively in this fourth decade of educational excellence will be the standard for how the school maintains its relevancy, grows its base of advocates, and rises to even greater heights.”
Donna Hutchison was a founding faculty member who taught 20 years in the Humanities Department. During her tenure at the school, Hutchison was the chair of the Humanities Department from March 1997 until her retirement in 2013. After her retirement, she also was appointed as a member of the ASMSA Board of Visitors.
“The one constant delight at ASMSA was the students,” Hutchison said about her tenure at the school. “They were curious and witty and engaged and engaging. They made my life delightful.”
Hutchison said the Student Handbook was eight pages when students arrived on campus that first year in 1993. She said students found many creative ways to do things the founding faculty and administration never thought about — including firing potatoes from a potato gun from a residence hall window and over the fountain located at the intersection of Whittington, Park and Central avenues.
“It was a physics experiment,” Hutchison said, drawing laughter from the luncheon attendees.
Hutchison said that those early classes recognized that they were engaging in an experiment of sorts at an educational institution unlike any other in the state. Faculty members who traveled to national conferences soon discovered that ASMSA was unlike many others across the country as well — even those with higher national profiles — in regard to its rigor and its experimentation within its learning environment, she said.
Hutchison closed by encouraging the current faculty to continue to strive for the rigor and classroom experimentation that was the hallmark of the early years of the school.
State Rep. Matt Brown, a member of the Class of 2000, spoke about the influence faculty had on his future law career while becoming the first member of the alumni to be elected to serve in the Arkansas General Assembly. He said an early chemistry class taught by Charlie Cole Chaffin, who also served as a state senator who sponsored the legislation to create the school before later joining its faculty, dissuaded him from seeking a medical career. Brown also credited Ross for helping improve both his writing and speaking skills, which are vital for his current jobs.
Brown said that his time as a student at ASMSA were among the best of his life. Those years helped mold him into the person he would later become, he said.
“It took me from being a very introverted, shy nerd to someone who has at least had some self-confidence and can stand in front of a crowd like this and speak, which I could have never done back then. I have to say that the whole reason I’m standing here — the whole reason I have this little pin right here — is because of this school,” Brown said, pointing out the lapel pin from the state House of Representatives on his suit collar.
Mary Alice Chambers, a current member of the Board of Visitors who served as a residence life staff member as well as band director, closed out the ceremony by telling those in attendance to give themselves a pat on the back for the school’s success.
“There’s a lot of heart and soul that a lot of people have put into this school to get it where it is. All of you are part of that,” she said.