School briefs
FLCHS grad inducted into honor society
SEARCY — Fountain Lake Charter High School graduate Matthew Pultz was among 92 new members inducted this fall into Harding University’s chapter of Alpha Chi, the national intercollegiate honor society.
Alpha Chi is a nationally affiliated society encouraging superior scholarship. Harding’s chapter, the Arkansas Eta chapter, is open to seniors with a minimum 3.75 grade-point average on
104 semester hours and to juniors with a minimum 3.85 grade-point average on
80 semester hours. It is open to graduate students who rank in the top 10 percent of their respective programs.
The new members were inducted by assistant professors Sarah Wilhoit and Sarah McGaha, sponsors of the honor society. The national offices of Alpha Chi are located in Little Rock.
Hickman receives optometry scholarship in Memphis
MEMPHIS — Andrew Hickman, a graduate of Lakeside High School and National Park College, was recently recognized during the Southern College of Optometry’s fall convocation.
Hickman was honored with the Dr. Milton Webb Optometric Leadership and Service Scholarship. The award recognizes an optometry student demonstrating leadership and overall excellence excellent promise in his or her studies and comes with a $1,500 monetary award.
The Southern College of Optometry recognizes its most outstanding students at a convocation ceremony in the fall semester each year. For the 2017-18 school year, more than 75 students were honored with awards and scholarships worth more than $125,000.
Hickman also graduated from the University of Central Arkansas with a degree in biology. He is the son of Lisa and Michael Hickman.
Association makes tennis donation before dissolution
JESSIEVILLE — The final act of the Central Arkansas Youth Tennis and Scholarship Association was a donation recently made to the tennis program at Jessieville High School.
The funds will be used to resurface the tennis courts at North Garland County Boys & Girls Club in Hot Springs Village. CAYTSA was established in October 2013 to “advance the lives and well-being of boys and girls in Central Arkansas through involvement with the sport of tennis.”
The goals of the association were to provide a fun, safe and positive environment for youth to learn and improve tennis skills, regardless of their families’ financial situations, and to provide college scholarships to local tennis players. Association members awarded three scholarships and taught classes at the Boys & Girls Club, Diamante Tennis Club and Fountain Lake Elementary School.
Teaching pro Pete Lazansky moved away from the area and the association dissolved. CAYTSA representatives Pat Nelson and Allen Triplett presented the donation to Jessieville tennis coach Diane Burr and student-athlete Alysan Speers.
CMS’ Felts among Arvest campaign winners
Cutter Morning Star Elementary School teacher KaChera Felts was among five winners in central Arkansas from Arvest Bank’s recent statewide “We Heart AR Teachers” campaign, an initiative to honor the state’s educators.
The campaign awarded 29 teachers with $500 gifts for their classrooms. Nominations were open to the public and were made via Arvest Bank’s Facebook page.
The winners from central Arkansas included Sean Conrad from Joe T. Robinson High School in Little Rock, Meaghan Sitzmann from Cabot Middle School North, Rachael Chesshir from Hurricane Creek Elementary School in Bryant and Mary Jo Alexander from Morrilton High School.
“We are excited to honor our teachers for all they do to help the children in our community prepare for the future,” said Asa Cottrell, sales manager for Arvest Bank in central Arkansas.
“Educators dedicate their personal time, and often their money toward their classrooms. We hope these gifts will be very beneficial to them, and their students.”
A total of 870 nominates were submitted for the contest.