Spa City goes EAST Mode
EAST Conference levels up
Bank of the Ozarks Arena and the Hot Springs Convention Center will welcome several thousand visitors this week as the education nonprofit Environmental and Spatial Technology Inc. showcases the work of students from nearly 240 schools.
The EAST Initiative will showcase student projects and hold competitions this week during its marquee annual event. The 21st annual EAST Conference will begin Tuesday and close on Thursday.
“My favorite part about conference is being able to utilize this opportunity for my students to learn about leadership and success,” said Aspen Ham, EAST facilitator at Hot Springs Intermediate School. “For fifth- and sixth-grade students to complete all the activities at conference from start to finish is a huge undertaking.
“I make the students responsible for all aspects of conference by assigning a student administrator to delegate tasks. It gives students a real-world perspective and teaches them how to work together to complete a challenging task. At conference they
finally get to see all their hard work in action first hand and it makes everything worth it.”
EAST reorganized its venues and entry requirements to better accommodate its growing membership and attendance. More than 3,000 visitors from more than 220 schools attended the 2016 conference.
Lakeside High School EAST facilitator Leighton Hardin said he enjoys seeing his students interact with attendees from other schools to share ideas and build friendships. He said he is most looking forward to “our kids’ excitement about sharing their projects and the joy they have from projects other schools have done. They want to bring it back to our classroom and share with all of our students.”
The exhibit hall with the schools’ booths will be located in halls A-D of the convention center this year instead of inside Bank of the Ozarks Arena, and will feature the conference’s Tinker Space. The exhibit hall will be open to the general public for free Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. and Thursday from 8:30-11:30 a.m.
Free passes will be available for general guests and student visitors. The passes will allow its users to attend the exhibit hall, breakout sessions and Tech Support Olympiad, as well as make use of the Tinker Space.
The exhibit hall will remain open until 4 p.m. March 15 to give judges and school administrators an extra half-hour to study the booths.
Ham said she is excited for students to compete in the Arduino competition and for students Trynytee Case, Baylee Lyles, Sandler Moore, Eliza Pike and Zephyr Smith to display and compete with their project for a flashing stop sign. They designed and coded NeoPixels that run off an Arduino and will be attached to a stop sign near the school.
“This is a very similar design to the flashing stop signs you see downtown,” Ham said. “The difference is these students are able to produce this product for around $200.
“For the city to install a flashing stop sign the cost is around $2,000, which is very expensive. The students would like to have a flashing stop sign at every building in our district and eventually travel to nearby schools teaching other students how to build their product in order to make this available to everyone and create a safer community.”
Bank of the Ozarks Arena will now be the site of the conference’s largest general sessions, including the opening plenary, gala and closing session. The events will be open for the first time to attendees beyond the standard eight students per program.
Schools could register additional team members for the first time this year for $50 per student. Tickets could also be purchased for the gala, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Wednesday. Tickets will be available to the general public on-site.