ASMSA showcases student projects

This week’s competitions at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts cap more than 18 months of work and research for graduating seniors.

The annual West Central Regional Science Fair and the Senior Research Symposium culminate students’ Fundamentals in Research Methods projects, known as FIRM. The school will also offer a portfolio option for the second time with expanded options.

Projects will be open to the public for viewing on Thursday in the chapel on campus from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Students will accompany their projects and be available for questions between 1-3 p.m.

Students start work on their firm projects during their junior years. They continue their research throughout the summer break and complete the projects during their senior years.

Three students in the 2016 Science Fair qualified for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, the largest international high school science fair. Many students also qualified for the Arkansas State Science and Engineering Fair.

Mandolin Harris, of Benton, Mikayla Hammers, of Little Rock, and Samia Ismail, of Fort Smith, qualified for ISEF through the regional event. Taryn Imamura, of Conway, and Andrew Hemund, qualified for ISEF through the state fair.

Last year marked the second ISEF in a row in which at least one ASMSA student earned an award. Harris won a second-place grand award in Earth and Environmental Science and a special award from the American Geosciences Institute for her research on water quality of karst outflows in the Ozark Mountains. Hammers won a third-place grand award in Cellular and Molecular Biology for her project about trichotillomania. Imamura won a fourthplace grand award in the Energy: Chemical category for her efforts to create biodiesel from rice hulls.

The Senior Research Symposium is offered for students interested in humanities, social sciences and the arts. A total of 15 students will complete in a portfolio project including subjects in visual arts, music, creative writing and film. The portfolio project was limited to visual arts in 2016.

Judging will take place today. The chapel will be off limits to everyone but judges throughout most of the day, save for student and finalist interviews.

A viewing time for family members is scheduled for 8-10 a.m. Friday. An awards ceremony will follow at 10 a.m. in First Presbyterian Church.