Ouachita Baptist University
Ouachita Baptist University hosted the 2019 Arkansas National Association of Teachers of Singing competition (NATS) Feb. 22-23 on Ouachita's campus. Ouachita students earned 18 finalist honors, with six students receiving first place honors.
"It is a privilege to host this event, but also a great deal of work," said Dr. Jon Secrest, Addie Mae Maddox Professor of Music and coordinator of Ouachita's vocal studies program. "Ouachita enjoyed significant success in these auditions, and many of our colleagues from throughout the state commented on our excellent facilities during their visit."
In addition to Ouachita's music students, students from Arkansas State University, Arkansas Tech University, Harding University, Henderson State University, John Brown University, National Park College, Southern Arkansas University, University of Arkansas, University of Arkansas at Fort Smith and University of Central Arkansas competed this year.
The competition is judged by NATS members from other educational institutions and private studios. Judges provide students with written critiques following their performances, offering feedback on musicianship, artistry, expression and other factors.
The following are finalists from Ouachita: Scotty Scott, Bentonville, a senior musical theater student of Dr. Jon Secrest, earned first place in the upper college music theatre division; and Hannah Saunders, Saint Paul, a senior musical theatre student of Dr. Margaret Garrett, earned third place in the upper college music theater women division and was a semifinalist in the senior women division.
The following are additional semifinalists from Ouachita: Michaela Finley, Cedarville, a senior musical theater student of John Alec Briggs, was a semifinalist in the upper college music theater women division; Zachary Myers, Forth Smith, a senior musical theater student of Dr. Glenda Secrest, was a semifinalist in the upper college music theater men division; Cedar Valdez, Garfield, a junior musical theater student of Dr. Jon Secrest, was a semifinalist in the upper college music theater men division; Alex Marrin, Greenwood, a junior musical theater student of Dr. Glenda Secrest, was a semifinalist in the junior men division and in the upper college music theater men division; Ashlynn Lockhart, Holiday Island, a freshman musical theater student of Jon Secrest, was a semifinalist in the lower college music theater women division; Danielle Hall, Prairie Grove, a sophomore musical theater student of Dr. Margaret Garrett, was a semifinalist in the sophomore women division; Emma Pitts, Rogers, a senior music education student of Dr. Jon Secrest, was a semifinalist in the upper college music theater women division; Payton Hickman, Siloam Springs, a freshman musical theater student of Dr. Jon Secrest, was a semifinalist in the freshman men division and in the lower college music theater men division.
Woodland Junior High
Andrew Young of Woodland Junior High School in Fayetteville has achieved the certified journalism educator status from the Journalism Education Association. Young will be honored April 26 at the JEA/NSPA Spring National High School Journalism Convention in Anaheim, Calif.
Journalism certification recognizes teachers who meet national standards of preparation to teach high school journalism classes and advise student media.
Educators who gain this certification status show evidence of continuing education and professional growth, knowledge of teaching and advising methods in scholastic journalism and leadership at local, state, regional or national levels.
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Makell Swinney of Fort Smith is one of more than 20 University of Arkansas at Little Rock students who participated in the Bilateral Model Arab League Conference Feb. 15-17 in Houston.
The Model Arab League is a student leadership development program created by the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations. It is a simulation of an international organization, the League of Arab States, which has 22 member countries.
Students met with the Egyptian Consulate to help them prepare to represent Egypt during the conference. UA Little Rock also represented Kuwait and Morocco.
UA Little Rock students will next compete in the National University Model Arab League Conference April 4-7 at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
Thea Foundation
Students from Northwest Arkansas took two of the top three places in the Thea Foundation's 2019 Visual Arts Scholarship Competition. Esther Crisler, a senior at Northwest Arkansas Classical Academy, took first place with her entry "Inversion of Importance" and received a $4,000 scholarship. Amber Alvizo of Clarksville High School took second place and received $3,500, while Kerryann Ptacek of Bentonville West High School got $3,000 for finishing third.
More than 200 high school seniors from across Arkansas entered the foundation's contest. The foundation promotes and supports both extracurricular and in-school arts-related activities. The winning works are on display through March at the foundation's North Little Rock headquarters.
Phi Kappa Phi
Devin Horan of Fayetteville was recently initiated into the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest and most selective all-discipline collegiate honor society. Horan was initiated at Brenau University.
Horan is among approximately 30,000 students, faculty, professional staff and alumni to be initiated into Phi Kappa Phi each year. Membership is by invitation only and requires nomination and approval by a chapter. Only the top 10 percent of seniors and 7.5 percent of juniors are eligible for membership. Graduate students in the top 10 percent of the number of candidates for graduate degrees may also qualify, as do faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction.
Oral Roberts University
Holland Henagan and Shae Zalenski, both of Rogers, were named to the fall 2018 provost's list for outstanding academic performance at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla.
To be named to the provost's list, students must carry at least 12.0 units for credit in a semester and attain a grade-point average of 3.500 or better with no grade below "C".
University of Arkansas at Monticello
The University of Arkansas at Monticello presented 480 awards to 436 December graduates: Michelle Ham, Bentonville, bachelor of general studies; Renar Benson, bachelor of general studies, Claudia R. Gochi, bachelor of science and Joseph Barrett Roberts, bachelor of general studies, all of Fayetteville; Leigha Delle Mason, Hackett, master of arts in reaching; Francelina E. Aguiar, Lowell, bachelor of general studies; Bristol Gage Chilton, New Blaine, master of arts in teaching; Matthew Scott Laird, Pea Ridge, bachelor of general studies; Bruce Alan Kiefer, Siloam Springs, associate of arts; Deborah Kathleen Davis, Springdale, bachelor of general studies; Amos Ellis-Lee Cochran, Van Buren, associate of arts.
Troy University
Brooklyn Phillips of Booneville graduated from Troy University during Term 3 of the 2017-18 academic year.
Phillips graduated with the associate of science in general education degree while attending Troy Online.
Northwest Arkansas Community College
Based in Bentonville, Northwest Arkansas Community College has been ranked in the top six schools for best online community colleges in Arkansas. With an annual tuition of $2,250, the college offers an online associate of applied science in business management and an online associate of science in both business and safety, health and hazmat management. There's also an online associate of arts degree designed for students planning to transfer to a four-year university, which is available in an accelerated variation. The community college provides online students with a variety of resources, including tutoring, success coaching and live writing center consultations through Skype.
Each community college was ranked by several important factors, including retention rate, graduation rate, percentage of online enrollment data and the number of online associate degrees offered.
Fort Hays State University
David Flores of Van Buren graduated from Fort Hays State University, Hays, Kan., in the fall 2018 semester with a bachelor of arts in psychology.
Douglas Nolan Thomas of Bella Vista graduated from Fort Hays State University in the fall 2018 semester with a bachelor of general studies (leadership).
Augustana College
Ngoc Pham of Fort Smith was among students named to Augustana College's (Rock Island, Ill.) 2018-19 winter term dean's list.
National Merit finalists
Eight Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts students were named National Merit finalists for the 2018-19 academic year by the National Merit Scholarship Corp.
The National Merit Scholarship Corp. recently announced the names of the finalists for the 64th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. The students will continue in the competition for 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth about $31 million that will be offered this spring.
Local ASMSA seniors named finalists are Andrew Astre of Alma, Saoirse Disney-McKeethen of Fayetteville and Rachel Stall of Clarksville.
To be considered for the National Merit Scholarship Program, students take the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test as a junior. A nationwide pool of semifinalists is selected. That pool represents less than 1 percent of U.S. high school seniors. Students must fulfill several requirements to advance to the finalist standing, including a detailed scholarship application that includes information about their academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment and honors and awards received.
Merit Scholar designees are selected on the basis of their skills, accomplishments and potential for success in rigorous college studies.
EAST Initiative
EAST Initiative, a Little Rock-based nonprofit, recently celebrated their annual EAST Conference where they bring together almost 270 schools to compete for awards in Hot Springs.
The annual EAST Conference is a celebration of innovation, resiliency, personal development and commitment to partnerships on a local and national level. The EAST staff created multiple opportunities, known as competitions, for individual students and small groups to have more opportunities to celebrate their achievements and develop their talents.
The Cornerstone Award Competition is one of the biggest awards given by the organization. The Cornerstone Award is to recognize programs that are a model in one single focused area: Community and Collaboration, Project Innovation and Sophistication, and Student Growth and Engagement. EAST students at Don Tyson School of Innovation won in the category of Community and Collaboration for several of their projects.
The Create a Healthier Arkansas Competition, sponsored by Champions of Health, an organization that wants to ignite a desire among youth to protect their health, reviewed project submissions geared to improving the health of peers in their school community or in their homes/community. Joss Jongewaard, Izreal Lenidrik, Lamberto Cervantes and Christopher Tanguma, EAST students at Sonora Middle School, received $250 for their hard work on the virtual reality game, Grocery Games for Diabetics.
University of Alabama
Nearly 500 students at the University of Alabama highlighted their research and creative projects during the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Conference on March 27.
Among the participants and presentations were:
Elizabeth Bury of Bentonville -- Presentation: "Mechanical Properties of Dispersions of Galinstan into Thermoset and Thermoplastic Polymers" in the Engineering, Transportation and Energy category.
Ariana Rivera of Bentonville -- Presentation: "Optimization of Electronic Chemical Sensors" in the Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Mathematics and Water category.
The 12th annual conference is hosted by UA's Office for Undergraduate Research and the Office for Research and Economic Development.
Poster presentations are grouped by research areas -- instead of by academic colleges or departments -- to align with national trends of using interdisciplinary approaches to problem-solving.
The conference spurs interest in research among undergraduate students and helps students polish their communication skills, said Dr. Kim Bissell, director of the Office for Undergraduate Research.
All-State Coding Competition
Northwest Arkansas will be well represented at next month's All-State Coding Competition.
Seventeen teams qualified for the state competition by winning regional contests held around the state on March 14. Eight of those teams were from Benton or Washington county schools, according to a news release from the Arkansas Department of Education.
The winning teams from Northwest Arkansas included:
• Tyson School of Innovation (Springdale): James Cassady, Benjamin Easterling and Abigail Herrera
• Fayetteville High School: Jan Bobda Tagne, Andrew Ritter and Lucas Faupel
• Gentry High School Conversion Charter: Matthew Anderson, Jonathan Brinkley and Carson Stell
• Haas Hall Academy Rogers: Lucas Jaggernauth, Bradley Baltz and Austin Parker
• Haas Hall Academy Fayetteville: Daniel Whitmire, Julian Sanker and Owen Bell
• Rogers Heritage High School: Allyson Hayes, Luis Guerra and Adam Siwiec
• Rogers High School: Garrett Chrisman, Brady Self and Jack Norris
• Rogers New Technology High School: David Daniel and Westley Taylor
The All-State Coding Competition will be held at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, on May 18. Each member of the first-place team will receive $2,000. Second-place team members will receive $1,000 and third-place team members will receive $500 each. All awards will be deposited into 529 college savings plans.
In addition, schools that register or sponsor the first-, second- and third-place teams will receive $10,000, $6,000 and $4,000, respectively, to support their computer science programs.
Delaware Valley University
Harrison Cato of Pea Ridge has been accepted for admission at Delaware Valley University in Doylestown, Pa.
Bentonville High School
Twin siblings from Bentonville High School took home the top prize in the finals of the seventh annual Arkansas Tech University High School Business Challenge on April 5 at Doc Bryan Student Services Center Lecture Hall in Russellville.
Arjun and Arthi Krishna captured the $500 first place award with their business concept "Tekkusave."
Dr. Lisa Toms, dean of the ATU College of Business, made the check presentation to Arjun Krishna.
The annual contest, which is presented by the ATU College of Business, provides high school students with an opportunity to develop a marketable idea, create a business plan and then present the concept to a panel of judges.
Criteria includes the quality of the business start-up or expansion idea, organization and structure, marketing, profitability, resources and professionalism.
Sponsors for the 2019 competition included Farm Bureau of Pope County, Textbook Brokers and Enactus.
Grantham University
John Reed of Van Buren graduated with an online MBA project management degree from Grantham University, a 100 percent online university.
Southern Arkansas University
Simon Tursky of Van Buren was part of Southern Arkansas University Theater's spring musical production of Sister Act at Harton Theatre in April.
Tursky is a junior performing arts: musical theater major, and was assistant sound designer and sound board operator for the play.
Washburn University
Alisha Medlock of Fort Smith was recently initiated into Lambda Nu, the national honor society for the radiologic and imaging sciences. Ten Washburn University (Topeka, Kan.) students were initiated in the 2019 class.
NAN Our Town on 04/18/2019