The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts is serving an important role in developing the future economic leaders for our state and nation, U.S. Sen. John Boozman said during a visit to the school April 2.
“To have the economic opportunity that we want to have in the future, you have to have leadership come forward, and this (ASMSA) is where a lot of it is going to come from,” Boozman said.
“I think everything we need to be doing right now has to do with jobs and the economy. In order to have a solid economy in this century, you’ve got to have the people — the mathematicians, the scientists, those in all of the arts — to lead the way. Certainly this school is doing a tremendous job for Arkansas in doing that.”
Boozman visited with ASMSA Director Corey Alderdice before taking a tour of the campus led by students Clay Davis of Hot Springs and Briannon Carlsen of Springdale. The tour included a visit to several classrooms and the Student Center. The students described the coursework and other learning opportunities the school offers.
This was Boozman’s first visit to the school. Boozman is serving his first term as a U.S. senator after serving five terms in the U.S. House of Representatives in Arkansas’ Third District. Boozman previously served two terms on the Rogers School Board, helping oversee one of Arkansas’ largest school districts. Boozman said his seven years on the Rogers board gave him an insight into “how hard teachers work in institutions like [ASMSA] across the state.”
He said he wanted to visit the school because he has known several people whose children attended ASMSA and that the school “has a tremendous reputation. I just wanted to come and see firsthand how we can be helpful.”
Boozman said seeing the school in person to see the areas that need to be expanded and remodeled, and to see the work being done toward those needs, was important. The information he gathered during his visit will allow him to return to Washington to work with the state’s delegation in the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives to seek ways to help the school.
Cutline: Briannon Carlsen of Springdale, right, a senior at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, describes some of the humanities courses offered at the school during a tour of the school for U.S. Sen. John Boozman, third from the left, on April 2. Boozman made a stop to tour the campus and visit with school officials and students while in Hot Springs. Also pictured from the left are ASMSA Director Corey Alderdice, Cathy Boozman and Tim Riley, a member of Boozman's staff.