People & Places

Local children

perform at WAC

Twelve local children will participate in the Moscow Classical Ballet's performances of The Nutcracker this weekend. Shows are planned at 7 p.m. Friday, 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville.

Local performers include Alizabeth Grace McGinnis, Anna Caroline Johnson, Avery McFadden, Brooklyn Bradley, Ella Grace Cotton, Gracie Hollis, Julia Ragon Watts, Lawson Hooker, Rylee Ann Adams, Sloane Pitts, Wryn Pitts and Zoe Hahn.

Auditions were held for children ages 6-10. Formal dance training wasn't required, but many of the children study at local dance studios.

Local artists

win honors

J.P. Bell of Fayetteville and Dan Snow of Springdale were among eight artists chosen to have their works purchased as part of the Arkansas Arts Council's 28th Small Works on Paper exhibition. The pieces will become part of the exhibition's permanent collection.

Small Works on Paper features 29 Arkansas artists and will open Jan. 3 at the William F. Laman Library in Little Rock. An opening reception is planned from 6-8 p.m. Jan. 9 at the library.

The exhibit will be on display at the library through Jan. 27 before traveling around the state.

Information: arkansasarts.org.

Charter school

wins contest

The robotics team from Ambassadors for Christ Academy in Bentonville won the Frontier Trails Regional BEST robot competition, held Dec. 5-6 at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith.

The team also took second place in the Most Robust Robot competition. Ramay Junior High School's robotics team and the team from Alpena High School placed third in the T-Shirt Award and Web Page Award categories respectively.

The contest featured 34 teams from Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.

NWACC students

offer 3-D talk

Two NorthWest Arkansas Community College students recently presented a talk on integrating 3-D printers into curriculum at the 2014 STEMtech Conference in Denver.

Lee Stidham and Danny Mora presented to about 50 administrators and faculty members from colleges and high schools. The two offered tips on incorporating the technology into classrooms for less than $600.

Stidham and Mora are part of the Educationally Managed Projects Advancing Curriculum, Technology/Teamwork and Service program at NWACC.

Johnston selected

for science academy

Morganne J. Johnston, a Bentonville High School senior, has been selected for the National Academy of Future Science and Technology Leaders Award of Excellence by the Congress of Future Science and Technology Leaders.

Johnston is a member of the National Honor Society, the International Baccalaureate program, the Future Business Leaders of America, the Distributive Education Clubs of America and the high school's track and field team. She plans to major in computer science, with a psychology minor, in college.

Scholars chosen for the Congress will participate in a formal candlelight ceremony where they will receive their awards. The Congress will be held June 28-30 in Boston.

Student competes

in poster contest

Lincoln Junior High School eighth-grader James Bouwhuis is competing in the Lions Club International Peace Poster Contest. His poster is the winning entry for a contest sponsored by the Bentonville Breakfast Lions Club.

Bouwhuis's poster was among more than 450,000 entries submitted for the contest from around the globe. One international grand prize winner and 23 merit award winners will be selected.

The grand prize includes a cash award of $5,000 and a trip for the winner and two family members to attend an awards ceremony. Merit award winners will receive $500.

Bouwhuis and runners-up Madison Shell and Beau Scoggins were honored at a ceremony Dec. 9 at the junior high.

Local nonprofits

receive grants

Three Northwest Arkansas nonprofits received Artistic Innovations Grants from the Mid-America Arts Alliance, a nonprofit that supports the arts in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas.

The Artists Laboratory Theatre in Fayetteville received $15,000 to stage the play series The New Now. The Walton Arts Center also received $15,000 for their production of Bear State of Mind.

The Northwest Arkansas Prison Story Project earned $4,000 for its ongoing "Prison Stories" project.

Grants were awarded for projects taking place between July 1 of this year and June 30, 2015.

Send information about birthdays, honors and reunions to [email protected], [email protected] or Northwest Arkansas Achievers, P.O. Box 7, Springdale, AR 72765.

NAN Our Town on 12/18/2014

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