Two Central High School seniors, Yi Wu and Helio Liu, were selected as winners of the 2009-2010 Siemens Award for Advanced Placement. They were selected based on their exceptional performance on Advanced Placement (AP) Exams in math and science courses. Both students will receive a $2,000 college scholarship as part of their recognition. Only one male and one female from each state are so honored each year.
The National Academic Quiz Bowl Tournament (NAQT) has ranked Parkview Magnet High School’s Quiz Bowl "A" team 29th in the nation!
Parkview’s Quiz Bowl team has been very busy in recent weeks, preparing for and participating in several Quiz Bowl tournaments.
February 20, St. Mark’s Invitational
Parkview’s Quiz Bowl participants recently traveled to Dallas for the St. Mark’s NAQT Invitational Tournament. Twenty-one teams participated, and the Parkview “A” Team won 2nd place. The “B” Team was ranked 2nd in the preliminary rounds before the afternoon games.
Chris Altheimer was ranked 2nd highest individual scorer.
Jake Kimmerly was ranked 3rd highest individual scorer. Jake was the number-one sophomore scorer in the country last year.
Connor Thompson and Alex Smith also posted high individual scores.
February 27, Benton Invitational
The Parkview “A” Team won 3rd place at the Benton AGQBA Invitational Tournament. Thirty-one teams participated. Unfortunately, Parkview “A” had to play Parkview “B” in the quarterfinal round. Parkview “A” lost to 1st place team Northside High in the semifinal round.
High scorers for the team include: John Sykes, Chris Altheimer, Jake Kimmerly and Eric Carter.
The following students are members of the 2009-2010 Parkview Quiz Bowl team: Seemaab Ali, Chris Altheimer, Eric Carter, Catie Edwards, Jake Kimmerly, Darcie Moore, Kerry Richmond, Robert Rogers, Neal Sanger, Alex Smith, John Sykes, Connor Thompson, Kyle Vachon, Dallas White, Josh Woods and Laura Yoder. The team is coached by Pamela Crane.
Mrs. Harris' 1st grade class at Williams Magnet Elementary wanted to do something special to mark the 100th day of school this year, and they certainly accomplished their goal. They were supposed to collect 100 items to donate to the Ronald McDonald House. Students were asked to bring in items such as soap, toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning supplies, toothpaste and toothbrushes to be donated to the Ronald McDonald House. The class would count how many items they had each day to see how many more items they needed to reach their goal. They went above and beyond by collecting a total of 128 items!
Through this project the students learned the importance of giving to others in need. Everyone in the Williams Magnet family takes pride in helping their community. They feel that it is important for them to do what they can to make the lives of others just a little bit easier.
Mann Magnet Middle School had a strong showing at Mount St. Mary’s Mu Alpha Theta Math Contest on February 24. Mann students participated in Pre-Algebra and Geometry, and they had a lot fun! Mann had three students distinguish themselves during the competition:
Deborah Rookey placed 2nd overall in Geometry.
Leila Kerr placed 3rd overall in Geometry.
Ellen Kashala placed 3rd overall in Pre-Algebra.
Mann was the only public school involved in this competition. Mann's next math competition will be March 6 at UALR, and geometry students will soon participate in the ACTM High School Regional Mathematics Contest.
Morgan Johnson, a 3rd grade student at M.L. King Elementary, is one of only eight Boy Scouts who will present the Boy Scouts of America's Annual Report to the Nation in March.
Morgan will stand before the Speaker of the House and give this year's Report to the Nation with his fellow delegates, representing millions of scouts all across the country.
The five-day trip to Washington, D.C., will include visiting the White House, the U.S. Supreme Court, the CIA, Arlington Cemetery, the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the Pentagon and Marine Corps Base Quantico. A visit with President Barack Obama is planned but not yet finalized.
The trip coincides with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Scouting movement, which bills itself as one of the nation’s largest and most prominent value-based youth development organizations. Its latest membership rolls boast more than 1.6 million youth members and more than 1 million adult volunteers in its Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Varsity Scouts and Venturing programs.
“It’s an unbelievable opportunity because of the historic anniversary [of Scouting] and also with the chance to meet a historic president,” said Glen Johnson, who also is his son’s cubmaster, or pack leader. “It’s almost a surreal thought that out of the millions of Scouts in this country and all the Scouts in the council that my son has been chosen to do this.”
Morgan's favorite subject at school is math, he likes to play golf and he liked using a slingshot and shooting BB guns at day camp. He has said he wants to attain the rank of Eagle, the highest in Scouting, and play golf professionally.
Cub Scouts has been good for Morgan, his father said. “Scouting stands for and reinforces the things we are teaching at the house,” the elder Johnson said. “The days Morgan wears his uniform to school, you can see the pride in him.”