The All-Academic Team is composed of outstanding graduating seniors from high schools in Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale, Fayetteville and Huntsville.
High school counselors nominated the students. Education reporters selected all the seniors who were nominated this year to be on the team.
The students were selected for a combination of academic achievement and community service. Then the students were called in for portraits and discussions about their high school experiences and hopes for the future.
This year’s team includes students who plan to attend the University of Arkansas, the U.S. Naval Academy and Yale, with majors including statistics, classical studies and music.
Rusty Turner, editor and publisher for Northwest Arkansas Newspapers, said he got the idea for the All-Academic Team in 2001 when he saw a similar project in an Alabama newspaper.
“It struck me as a great way to highlight the academic achievements of our local high school students,” he said in an email.
Turner said the newspaper provides lots of coverage of students doing well in competitions and contests, from sports to music.
“I wanted us to do something that focused on pure academic achievement with this feature,” he said. “Our staff has done a great job over the years working with the local schools to recognize these students, and I’m pleased with the results. I think our readers are too.”
Robert Maranto, a University of Arkansas professor of education reform, said in an email that as a teenager, he appreciated the media attention given to a winning academic team of which he was a member.
“It’s no secret that American schools overemphasize sports and underemphasize academics, so it can mean a lot when we do something to recognize academics and service,” he said.