Live ‘n’ learn
Faulkner County excels in educational opportunities
One word to describe Faulkner County residents is educated. And if they’re not, it’s not because of a lack of opportunities. Everything from a major in interior design to a class on conversational Chinese is available through one of Conway’s three institutions of higher education — the University of Central Arkansas, Hendrix College and Central Baptist College. “Education is a pillar of the local economy,” said Brad Lacy, president of the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce and Conway Development Corp. “As the ‘City of Colleges,’ Conway has a unique attribute with three institutions of higher education, and they impact the area in many ways. From educational attainment to median age, the city’s demographics are greatly influenced by 127 years of higher education. We are younger and smarter than most places.” The median age in Conway is 27.9, and 37 percent of Conway’s adults age 25 or older have a bachelor’s degree or higher, according to the chamber. U.S. Census Bureau statistics show that the average age in Arkansas is 38 and that 21.5 percent of residents have at least a bachelor’s degree. “The chamber has a unique connection to education, as we were created in 1891 to mobilize private-sector investment to recruit Hendrix College to the city,” Lacy said. “Even our Toad Suck Daze festival has an education focus, raising nearly $2 million for scholarships and pre-K and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education programs.” The chamber hosts an academic signing day for high school seniors and the Teacher Breakfast and Fair each August. People in Faulkner County know that education is more than just sitting in a classroom. Hendrix has the Odyssey Program, where students must undertake a project in one of six areas, including artistic creativity, service to the world, global awareness and more. Hendrix has been the host of the Arkansas Governor’s School, a six-week residential program for the state’s upcoming gifted and talented high school seniors, since 1980. Faulkner County communities have a lot of pride in their public schools. Conway, Greenbrier, Guy-Perkins, Mayflower, Mount Vernon-Enola and Vilonia each have unique programs recognized for excellence, from an orchestra at Conway High School and students recognized as National Merit scholars to Mayflower’s award-winning robotics team and Greenbrier’s all A’s on the state report card. Greenbrier also made history in 2015, when it was the first high school in the state to award associate degrees to seniors in a partnership with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Two Vilonia students have been elected presidents of national organizations — incoming Vilonia High School senior Drake Toll was elected in June as president of the national Beta Club, and Taylor McNeel, a graduate of Vilonia High School, was elected in 2015 as national FFA president. Also, Frank Mitchell Intermediate School in Vilonia, Eastside Elementary School in Greenbrier and the Quitman School District, which is in Faulkner and Cleburne counties, were three of 12 schools in the state that received grants to become professional learning communities, a process designed to enhance student learning. This program is a partnership with the Arkansas Department of Education and Solution Tree, a national professional-development provider. “It’s been a great process — probably the most significant professional development I’ve been a part of in my 30-plus years in public education,” said Vilonia Superintendent David Stephens. Parents who prefer can choose a faith-based private school, including St.
Joseph Catholic School and Conway Christian School, as well as Compass Academy, which serves students with developmental disabilities. Education in Conway impressed UCA’s first lady, Jenny Davis, whose husband, Houston Davis, was hired as president in November 2016. A former English teacher, Jenny Davis said she was excited to learn that UCA in Conway is home to the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre “not Little Rock, not Fayetteville,” she said. Davis said she was also impressed that Conway High School has an orchestra. “Those things don’t happen by accident,” she said. Faulkner County residents have made a concentrated effort to put education at the forefront. Conway Corp, the city’s utility company, was created from the desire to further education. In 1929, Hendrix was considering moving from Conway, and Central College, now Central Baptist College, was considering closing. A group of men banded together and raised the money to keep the institutions in the city by selling bonds and using earnings from the municipal electric system to pay them off. Conway Corp was the nonprofit entity formed to oversee this endeavor. Since 2010, Conway Corp has given more than $4,000 in scholarships to the Single Parent Scholarship Fund of Faulkner County and has given more than $600,000 since 2008 in endowed scholarships to local students who attend the three colleges, according to its website. CBC has a Professional Adult College Education, or PACE, program, which allows working adults to get their degrees. The Faulkner County Library in Conway is intertwined with education, said John McGraw, director. “It’s summertime now — the topical thing is … we fill the gaps between these crazy three months for no reason school’s not in session. Parents and teachers get stressed about the regression of students’ achievement,” McGraw said. “We offer books on whatever subject the kids have come out of schools interested in, whether it be science or the Titanic, or what-have-you.” It’s not all about books, though. “We do a ton of programs in the summer. This summer, the theme is Libraries Rock, so we’re doing musical things, and we’ve had a great response to people showing up for concerts and making instruments,” McGraw said. “The governor has been kind to push coding in libraries; we’ve got some coding tools, some robotics tools. We’re doing makerspace and adding a ton of coding programs, robotics, sewing classes, cooking classes, stop-gap animation — anything anybody wants to make, we want them to be able to make it here,” he said. The Faulkner County Library has six branches, which are in Twin Groves, Mount Vernon, Conway, Greenbrier, Mayflower and Vilonia. All over Faulkner County, education is there for the taking.