Article by: Lena Miano of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Photo by: Staci Vandagriff
Aspiring computer scientists, architects, marketers, music educators, finance gurus, actors, and a host of additional soon-to-be professionals declared their commitment to pursue their post-secondary goals before a crowd of business executives, higher education representatives, and elected officials for the Little Rock School District's annual Academic Signing Day.
This year's celebration of academic achievers saw dozens of seniors from Hall-West High School of Innovation, Little Rock Central High, Little Rock Southwest Magnet High, and Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High Schools taking the stage at The Venue at Westwind to announce their plans for next year.
Mirrored after the traditional athletic signing days wherein student athletes commit on paper to pursue their academic and athletic careers at a college or university, academic signing days are designed to honor scholars following a different path.
The district was set to recognize 175 seniors at Monday's event, up from 166 last year and 123 in 2023.
Meredith Gadberry, a Central High senior, said she will take the "spirit of learning" she gained from high school with her when she moves to Atlanta to attend Emory University in the fall.
"I love Central's community," Gadberry said. "I think, because it's such a diverse place, I really got the opportunity to meet all kinds of people that I never would have met if I'd gone to another high school, and that's been such a gift."
The Central High senior said that while she loves Little Rock, she is excited to meet new people, create new experiences, and study religion and sociology at Emory.
With current plans to earn her master of divinity degree after her undergraduate studies, Gadberry said she hopes to "be in a profession where I can help people and help the world."
"I've always wanted to help protect my community, the people around me, and just people that I know and people that I'm friends with," Sergio Luna, a Hall-West senior who plans on being part of the Little Rock Police Department after graduating, said.
The Little Rock native said he has known since kindergarten that protecting and serving the local community was the path for him.
Having the dream he will soon pursue has "always inspired me to be something better and be great," Luna said.
Growing up in the city he hopes to give back to, Luna said his connections to law enforcement and having friends in the field already has helped prepare him for the "next stepping stool."
For Yahya Younus, Central High is his "favorite school in the world" and has given him the "best opportunities that have gotten me to where I am right now."
In addition to the "beautiful campus," Younus said the classes he has taken at Central, "some of the best teachers out there," and access to Advanced Placement courses has prepared him well for his future.
Central's valedictorian will be attending the University of Pennsylvania in the fall, studying finance and computational biology through a dual-degree program.
"Currently, our health care system isn't at its best, and I want to try to improve on that," Younus said, adding that the path he is on at the university will provide him with the business and science side to "hopefully make a difference."
Before students walked onto the stage Monday to scribe their names and plans alongside classmates on a jumbo-sized poster, a Parkview High alum shared words of wisdom with the eager seniors.
"Dare to dream big," Steve Broadnax, artistic director at Arkansas Repertory Theatre, told students.
Noting that his time in the district prepared him to succeed as he earned his bachelor's degree from Missouri's Webster University, his master's from Pennsylvania State University and as a director across the U.S. and internationally, Broadnax said that "anything is possible."
"Feel empowered and dream, because all things are possible," he said.