Seniors saluted
Parkview High School senior Morgan Brady, 18, signs her name Monday afternoon at the Governor’s Mansion during an event honoring some of the Little Rock School District’s top seniors. Brady is going to the University of Tulsa in the fall.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson, real estate developer Jimmy Moses, Little Rock School District leaders and others joined together Monday to honor more than 90 of the district’s highest-achieving members of the Class of 2017.
One by one the graduating seniors announced their high schools and their college and career plans to the crowd of applauding parents at the annual Academic Signing Day at the Governor’s Mansion.
Teaching, English literature, music composition, theater arts and law were some of the planned careers and areas of study cited by the students, as were economics, engineering, biology, finance and architecture.
The students’ choices of colleges ranged from those closest to home — University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Philander Smith College — to those more distant, such as Princeton University, Yale University, Vassar, University of Notre Dame, DePaul University, Spelman College, Rice University, Georgetown University, University of California at Los Angeles and the University of New Mexico.
Anne Hagemeier, who is graduating from Central High, will likely top her peers in miles traveled by taking a gap year in Peru before enrolling at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville to earn a degree in Spanish and International business.
Regardless of where the students go in the short-term, both the governor and keynote speaker Moses, a principal in Moses Tucker Real Estate, urged the students to eventually return to their home state.
“We are growing jobs and opportunity and there is increased momentum here,” Hutchinson told the students. “We need your talent in this state,” he said drawing out each word for emphasis. “You are our producers. You are our academic stars. We are excited about your future.”
Moses, 67, a graduate of Little Rock’s Hall High, told the high achievers about his own education and career story that included a mix of out-of-state college degrees and hometown failures and successes in real estate development.
“I know many of you are leaving for wonderful colleges both out of central Arkansas and out of state,” Moses said. “But I hope you won’t forget that as you choose your career — and you know that you are among the best and brightest that our state has turned out — that this community needs you. I think it is here that one person can absolutely make a big difference and change the course of history, and that person is absolutely you.”
He listed among his failures the old Metrocentre Mall, in which parts of Main Street and Capitol Avenue were closed to vehicular traffic, and the proposed construction of a downtown Little Rock arena — funding for which was resoundingly defeated by voters.
His successes included the Downtown Farmers Market; the development of the Little Rock River Market District’s retail, entertainment and hospitality offerings; the acquisition of property for the Clin-
ton Presidential Center; and the renovation of Main Street buildings that now house Brunos Little Italy and Samantha’s Tap Room & Wood Grill restaurants.
“You might say I’ve had some measure of success but I would say, ‘Not really,’” Moses said. “I’m still just a work in progress because my dream remains for Little Rock and, in particular, the urban core to become truly world class. We are not there yet. To be honest we are a long way from it. But as I move towards the winter of my career, I look at you as you move toward the spring of your career and it strikes me that what I can really do best is to help you to fulfill your hopes and dreams.”
He can do that, he said, by encouraging them to be passionate in pursuit of their life’s work, persistent in sticking to their dreams, powerful in persuading others who say something cannot be done, and to be humble.
For Abigail Rhodes who will graduate from Central this week and plans to study civil engineering at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Moses’ remarks gave her confidences about her area of study. She said she was inspired by his words.
“I thought about applied mathematics but I felt I could make a big difference with engineering and these largescale projects. I am interested in serving my community,” Rhodes said.
Lydia Headley, also a Central High senior, said she is going to study molecular biology at Princeton University, with plans for becoming a pediatric surgeon to combine her interest in anatomy and love of helping children.
Headley’s Central High classmate Niroshi Wijewardane will attend Washington University in St. Louis, also with plans for a medical career.
“I hope to go to med school and become a cardiologist. Both my parents are doctors so I got an early exposure to medicine and I just love the field,” Wijewardane said.
Mohammed Mumtaz, who is graduating from Central High, said he will attend Johns Hopkins University where he will study international studies on a pre-med track.
“One day I hope to change the world,” Mumtaz said.
Cameron Minor is graduating from Parkview High and is planning to major in general math at Hendrix College but doesn’t want to abandon his experiences in theater, mime and juggling.
“I would love one day to find myself in Chicago studying improvised theater,” Minor said.
Karlena Fletcher, also graduating from Parkview, said she will attend Boston University to major in both studio art and business administration.
“My dream is to one day open a nonprofit art gallery where underprivileged teens and adults can express themselves and learn art from professionals,” she said.
Morgan Brady, who is graduating from Parkview, will go to the University of Tulsa to play basketball and study biology.
Mya Fisher, a student at J.A. Fair, said she plans to attend the University of Central Arkansas to prepare for a career as a pediatrician.
Talaya Jones, who is graduating from McClellan High, said she will spend a year at the Salon Professional Academy in North Little Rock then move to the University of Arkansas at Little Rock to study cosmetic chemistry with plans for starting a line of hair products for teens.
Amy Cabrera, who is graduating from Hall High, said she will enroll at Hendrix College, with plans for a career in business and politics.
To qualify to participate in the annual Academic Signing Day event, high school seniors had to achieve at least one of the following:
Cumulative 4.0 grade-point average from ninth through 12th grades;
Class valedictorian or salutatorian; National Hispanic Scholar; National Merit Semifinalist; or
Rank in top five of class. Sponsors for the event included Baldwin & Shell; Nabholz, Polk, Stanley, Wilcox; WER Architects; the Public Education Foundation and the Little Rock School District.