UAFS employees
honored for work
Two employees of the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith were honored for their service to the university with Lucille Speakman Excellence Awards presented Sept. 27 at the University Staff Council's annual staff meeting.
Terri Bailey of Fort Smith, piano accompanist in the music department, and Susan Buchanan of Fort Smith, administrative specialist for the honors international studies program, each received the award, which recognizes exemplary staff members at the university.
Bailey has worked at the school for 18 years, where she has played piano for the numerous jazz, chorale and other musical concerts held each year, in addition to providing private lessons and volunteering in activities at the university. Buchanan has worked at UAFS since 2012. She handles all administrative duties associated with the honors international studies program, including assisting with the interviewing process of prospective students, tracking students' grade-point averages, helping with "Maymester" arrangements and assisting honors students with their needs.
Bailey and Buchanan each will receive a $2,500 monetary award. The award is named for the late Lucille Speakman, a longtime teacher, administrator and member of the board of trustees when UAFS was a two-year community college.
iGive campaign
sets record
Faculty and staff at Northwest Arkansas Community College supported the institution by giving a record-setting $34,301 during an internal giving campaign known as iGive.
The internal two-week campaign, which wrapped up Sept. 22, gave faculty, staff and students the opportunity to participate in the college's philanthropic efforts. Donors had the option to designate where their support would be used -- including unrestricted gifts, programs, scholarships and the employee assistance fund, among other choices. One hundred percent of every dollar raised in the campaign is going to benefit the students and campus programs.
The 2016 campaign earned a gold award from the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations.
Kilby given
music trophy
Christian J. Kilby, 15, recently earned his 20th national trophy in piano and violin, all of which are superior rating except for two which are excellent ratings. Three Gold Cups were received for sustained superior performances.
Kilby began playing the piano at age 5 and started playing the violin at age 11 at Elmwood Middle School in Rogers, where he earned three medals in all-region competition in addition to the 20 trophies.
A junior at Rogers High School, Kilby is the son of Dr. Marilyn F. Kilby and James A. Kilby of Rogers. He has been a student of Martha Cox for the past eight years.
Collyge achieves
Top ACT Score
Nicholas Collyge, son of Sarah and Sean Collyge of Rogers, and a junior at Haas Hall Academy in Fayetteville, earned the highest possible ACT composite score of 36. The ACT consists of tests in English, mathematics, reading and science, each scored on a scale of 1--36. A student's composite score is the average of the four test scores.
Chapin earns
Eagle Scout
Michael Chapin, 18, of Berryville has attained the rank of Eagle Scout. He is the son of Kim and J.D. Chapin and a member of Troop 173 in Green Forest.
For his Eagle Scout project, he made a new park sign for the pool of the city of Berryville. The back of the sign displays a map with points of interest in Berryville. Chapin worked a total of 222 hours on the construction of the sign. A handicap-accessible walking also was constructed.
Area filmaker
tops festival
I Am We, a documentary film featuring Ryan Starkey of Fort Smith, recently received first place in the short film festival of ARTifact Forum & Gallery in Hawthorne, Calif. The film was created by Phillip Person of Fort Smith. Starkey lives with a disc-kenetic movement disorder.
ARTifact is part of the Able Arts Network, provides learning, community service and vocational opportunities through the creative arts for people with disabilities.
Bentonville citizens
honored by mayor
Bentonville Mayor Bob McCaslin announced third quarter winners of the Mayor's Outstanding Citizen Award: Arjun Krishna, Melanie Billing and The DEB Project. The Outstanding Citizen Award program recognizes the exceptional volunteer contributions of Bentonville residents.
Krishna is a junior at Bentonville High School, was described by Maolina Yang as a passionate learner who is on the quest of instilling excitement in learning to his peers. He initiated the Coding Club at Bentonville High School to give students intimidated or without the chance to take coding classes to learn the fundamentals of computer use, because he saw computers are used in every aspect of life. He is a student leader facilitator to the after-school ROAR Program at Bentonville High, a peer math tutor with Math Counts after school program at at Lincoln Junior High and a peer tutor at the Bentonville Public Library.
Melanie Billing is a 13-year volunteer with Sharing and Caring of Benton County, including decorating for children's fundraisers, and on the distribution day for Christmas gifts, passing out presents, guiding traffic or helping anywhere else she is needed, showing kindness and respect to families. Sharing and Caring provides hundreds of children the most basic needs during the holiday season. Billing also serves as Girl Scout troop leader. Irene Medrano, executive cirector of Sharing and Caring of Benton County, nominated Billing.
The Deserving Enriched & Blessed (DEB) project, led by Sammy Laney, works to provide children with the basic need of clothing. The organization has helped every school in the Bentonville district by finding clothing essentials for every child in need. The DEB Project is supported by the community donations and volunteer time. Brandy Overton, a member of the Bright Futures advisory board, nominated DEB.
NAN Our Town on 10/19/2017