ASMSA wins sixth state science fair title
The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts claimed its sixth-straight school title in the Southwest Energy Arkansas Science and Engineering Fair and set a record for the number of students to qualify to compete in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.
ASMSA finished first in the Best School category at the state science fair held March 30-31 at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. It was followed by Little Rock Central, Alma High School, Osceola High School and Pulaski Academy. Individual school awards are determined by the highest number of first-, second- and third-place finishes by the school’s students in each individual category. Schools must have a certain number of participants in the contest to be considered for the school prize.
ASMSA students also represented the school well in the Best in State and Overall categories. John Ostermueller, of Little Rock, placed second in the Best in State category. Students compete in the Best in State category if they won a place in their regional science fair. Ostermueller won first-place overall at ASMSA’s West Central Regional Science Fair in February.
Seven ASMSA students placed in the state Overall category, sweeping third through sixth place. The team of Lily Ann Easley, of Garland City, and Hollie Hagler, of Ozark, won third place; Rachel Stall, of Clarksville, won fourth place; Akarsh Kumar, of Fayetteville, won fifth place; and the team of Justin Austin, of Sherwood, Brad Greenway, of Jacksonville, and Reed McCollum, of Mulberry, took sixth place.
Students who placed in the state Overall category qualified to compete in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, the largest international pre-college science competition and a program of the Society for Science and the Public, in Pittsburgh on May 13-19. They will join the three students who won the top three overall at ASMSA’s science fair — Ostermueller, Sanidhya Tripathi, of Conway, and Sabrina Jones, of Russellville — and earned trips to compete at the international fair.
The 10 students who qualified for the international fair is the most in school history. ASMSA sent eight students to the international fair in 2017, tying a previous mark set in 2002. Nine of the 10 students are seniors. Stall is the first junior at ASMSA to qualify for the ISEF competition in 18 years, said Brian Monson, director of the West Central Regional Science fair and a physics instructor and chair of the Science Department at ASMSA.
Monson noted that it was an atypically good year for team projects at the state science fair, as well. He praised the ASMSA students’ achievements at the state fair, including individual category performances.
“ASMSA had one its most successful state science fairs ever,” Monson said. “Our students earned first place in eight of the fifteen categories they entered, and seven more ASMSA students qualified to compete in the International Science and Engineering Fair this May. These two team projects and two individual projects join the three ASMSA seniors who qualified for ISEF at the West Central Regional Science Fair in February. These awards recognize the strength of our curriculum and the authentic research experiences our students work through in their capstone projects.”
Students who finished third place or higher in their category at their regional fair were eligible to compete at the state science fair.