Southern
Arkansas
University
Local students attending Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia participated in the theater production of The Wizard of Oz in April.
Mercy Fuentes of Van Buren, a senior theater major, was part of the costume construction and the women’s ensemble.
Mikayla McCoy of Rogers, a freshman musical theater major, played the roles of Miss Gulch and Wicked Witch.
Kelsey Padilla of Fort Smith, a senior theater major, was one of Oz’s voices and the ticket manager.
Darby Taylor of Barling, junior musical theater major, was part of the women’s ensemble.
Central Methodist
University
Local students at Central Methodist University in Fayette, Mo., volunteered their time on the school’s annual Service Day.
Austin Blevins, a sophomore exercise science major from Fayetteville, and Brandon White, a sophomore sports management major from Rogers, volunteered with the Cleanup Fayette project, picking up trash around town.
Emily Kurtz, a junior pre-athletic training major from Rogers, traveled to Glasgow, a neighboring community, to repaint the city pool.
Mia Stone, a senior athletic training major from Winslow, volunteered at the Columbia Food Bank.
University
of Arkansas —
Fort Smith
Local high school students were awarded medals for their work in secondary division of the 2016 Arkansas SkillsUSA Championships at the Western Arkansas Technical Center at the University of Arkansas — Fort Smith. The championships featured both individual and team competition.
Alma: Jacob Bolding, Alma High School, silver in welding fabrication; Hunter McDermid, Alma High School, silver in welding fabrication; Chase Pearson, silver in welding fabrication.
Booneville: Elizabeth Chrisman, Booneville High School, gold in health knowledge; Debbie Robertson, Booneville High School, gold in health knowledge.
Fort Smith: Lauren Hoover, Southside High School, gold in preschool teaching assistant; Rachael Keomany, Northside High School, gold in nurse assisting; James Sangster, Northside High School, gold in technical computer applications; Kayla Tucker, Southside High School, bronze in prepared speech.
Greenwood: Kristen Keene, Greenwood High School, silver in preschool teaching assistant.
Van Buren: Haley Rains, Van Buren High School, gold in health knowledge.
Waldron: Jeana Lovett, Waldron High School, gold in basic health care skills; Nikkita Sandifer, Waldron High School, silver in medical math; Morgan Schafer, Waldron High School, silver in first aid/CPR.
In addition to the medals, each WATC gold medal winner receives a four-year $1,000 scholarship to attend UAFS.
University
of Arkansas —
Fort Smith
Four faculty members at the University of Arkansas — Fort Smith were honored during a faculty appreciation ceremony April 15 in recognition of their contributions to education, research and the community.
Sydney Fulbright of Hackett received the “Excellence to the University, to the Profession and to the Community Award.” Fulbright, executive director of the surgical technology program, teaches courses in the program and supervises weekly clinicals at local hospitals. A registered nurse and a certified operating room nurse, she has served as director of the program since 1998. Additionally, she holds certifications with the National Institutes of Health Office of Extramural Research.
David Nickell of Van Buren received the “Luella M. Krehbiel Adjunct Teaching Excellence Award.” An adjunct faculty members, Nickell teaches concurrent-credit composition courses at Southside High School in Fort Smith, in addition to serving as a composition instructor at Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville. He works as the Christian education director at Northside United Pentecostal Church in Fort Smith, with children ages 5 to 11.
Dan Settlage of Fort Smith received the “Lucille Speakman Master Teacher Award.” Settlage, a professor of economics, teaches courses on economics, statistics and planning for success in the university’s College of Business. He came to UAFS in 2004, after work as a research associate at the University of Arkansas. He has served on numerous university committees, including the teaching and learning committee, the university curriculum committee and the higher learning commission re-accreditation committee.
Cammie Sublette of Fort Smith earned the “Excellence in Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities Award.” Interim head of the department of English, rhetoric and writing and professor of English, Sublette teaches literature courses, including classes on African American literature, postmodernism, Mark Twain and popular culture. Her research primarily focuses on African American literature and popular culture, and she has published a number of articles, reviews and book chapters. Sublette co-edited a collection of pop culture essays, titled Devouring Cultures: Perspectives on Food, Power and Identity from the Zombie Apocalypse to Downton Abbey (University of Arkansas Press, January), with former student Jennifer Martin.
University
of Arkansas —
Fort Smith
Twenty-four University of Arkansas — Fort Smith students from the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and the School of Education received outstanding student awards during a ceremony. Greg Shipley, president of Morrison-Shipley Engineers, served as the guest speaker for the ceremony.
Fort Smith: Hannah Jenkins, Horizon award, chemistry; Sokear Manithong, database award; Danielle Perito Nichols, early childhood education outstanding intern; Giau Pham, biology service award; Steve Roberts, biology academic excellence; David Vest, computer and information sciences programming award.
Greenwood: Michael Conrow, computer and information technology networking award; Chandler Pendleton, organic chemistry award.
Hackett: Corie Williams, middle-level education math and science award.
Lavaca: Daniel Young, chemistry research award.
Van Buren: Damian Cabrera, computer and information sciences outstanding student; Miranda Croslin, pedagogy award; Daniel Hinkle, electrical engineering freshman of the year; John Mills, mechanical engineering sophomore of the year; Kaleb Porter, calculus award.
Winslow: Richard Sample, biology research award.
University
of Arkansas —
Fort Smith
Terry Meadows of Fort Smith, formerly the assistant director of engineering, has been named the director of information technology at the University of Arkansas — Fort Smith.
In his new position, Meadows is responsible for the planning, execution and management of technology supporting computing across the university’s campus, including software applications, workstations, printers, servers and the campus’s network infrastructure.
Meadows’ promotion comes after six years in his previous position, where he oversaw the departments of PC systems, IT infrastructure, and the UAFS service desk. Additionally, he supervised more than 20 employees and implemented numerous new technologies on campus.
Prior to his work at UAFS, Meadows worked as the lead systems administrator in Mercy Hospital’s information services division for nine years. He holds a bachelor of science degree in telecommunications from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla.
Harding
University
Harding University in Searcy recently inducted local students into the school’s chapter of Alpha Chi National Honor Society. The honor society members rank in the upper 10 percent of the junior and senior classes from all academic fields, with a minimum 3.85 gradepoint average and graduate students who rank in the top 10 percent of their specific programs.
Honorees include Gabrielle Caselman, a psychology major from Farmington; Brett Favano, a management information systems major from Siloam Springs; Katherine Howell, a psychology major from Bentonville; Emily Jones, a communication sciences and disorders major from Fort Smith
Arkansas
Historic
Preservation
Program
Students from Benton and Sebastian counties were the top winners in the 25th annual “Preserve Our Past” art and essay invitational sponsored by the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program, an agency of the Department of Arkansas Heritage
Kaily Portillo of Salem Elementary School in Fort Smith won third place in the fifth- and sixth- grade art division for a drawing of Immaculate Conception Church. Irma Berrocal of Hartford Elementary School won honorable mention for a drawing of an 1886 house, as did Conrado Balagtas of Sutton Elementary in Fort Smith for a drawing of the Bass Reeves statue.
Duncan Gwinn, a homeschool student from Siloam Springs won first place in the seventh- and eighthgrade essay division for a piece on Arkansas’s Japanese-American internment camps.
Winners in each division will receive a trophy, and honorable mention recipients will get a ribbon. Winning entries and honorable mention entries will be displayed at the Historic Arkansas Museum in Little Rock throughout May and at arkansaspreservation.com/Learn-More/preserve-ourpast-winners.
Big Pitch
Film Festival
The Prevention Project’s 13th annual Big Pitch Film Festival gave Arkansas students the chance to film, star in and produce videos to prevent tobacco use and support advocacy among their friends, family and communities. Project Prevent hosted the annual award show and screening event at Little Rock’s Heifer International Village.
Beginner division: Rogers-Heritage High School, Smoking Cuts Dreams Short, second place.
Intermediate division: Valley Springs High School, A Child’s View, third place.
Advanced division: Springdale District Television, Don’t Play Around with Secondhand Smoke, first place; Har-Ber High School in Springdale, Play Your Life in Color, second place.
15-second social videos: Harrison High School, Dang Daniel, third place.
People’s choice award: Harrison High School, Smokin’ Hip Hop Rap Song.
Best editing: Bentonville High School, Make the Choice to Stay with Them Longer.
Best use of behindthe-scenes social media: Clarksville High School, On the Prowl to Stop Smoking.
Rookie of the year: Northside High School, Make the Right Choice.
University
of Arkansas
Several University of Arkansas students have received National Science Foundation graduate research fellowships for the upcoming academic year. The awards are made to students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, recognizing academic excellence and the potential contribution that each student will make to his field.
Ryan DuChanois of Greenland, a senior honors civil engineering major in the College of Engineering, was recently named a 2016 Gates Cambridge Scholar and will begin studying for his master’s degree in engineering at the University of Cambridge in the fall. His research mentor is Wen Zhang, assistant professor of civil engineering.
John Kenneth George of Farmington is a 2015 UA graduate, with an honors degree in electrical engineering. He will begin working on a doctorate in electrical engineering at the university in the fall under Simon Ang, professor of electrical engineering..
Heather Sandefur of Fayetteville is a master’s student in chemical engineering at the University of Arkansas, where she also earned a bachelor’s degree in biological engineering. Her research mentors are Marty Matlock, professor of ecological engineering, and Jamie Hestekin, associate professor of chemical engineering and the Jim L. Turpin Endowed Professor in chemical and biochemical separations.
Each fellowship is worth $34,000 per year and can be renewed for up to three years. Along with the renewable stipend, each student’s institution will receive $12,000 per year to offset tuition costs, bringing the total amount of funding awarded to more than $1 million.