Thumbs column
As local denizens put the recent snowy and chilly spate of winter’s first visit behind them, we hope they look forward to this hearts ’n’ flowers month and a plethora of other enjoyable celebrations.
Speaking of looking ahead, we say, “Thumbs-up” to National Park College’s 2025 planned summer opening of its new $10.5 million on-campus residence hall.
Per a story in The Sentinel-Record, the 42,000-squarefoot Redbud Hall will be built on the site of the college’s maintenance facilities and next to Dogwood Hall on the west end of the campus.
The residence hall will feature 176 beds, which along with Dogwood Hall (opened in 2020) will provide a total of 386 student beds. Funding to begin construction was approved via a bond sale last fall. Buffalo Builders of Little Rock and Springdale won the bid to construct the project at a cost not to exceed $10.5 million.
Kudos to NPC for continuing to provide quality education and campus life for its attendees.
On the subject of education, here’s another well-deserved “Thumbs-up” to the Lakeside School District which Niche, an online platform that profiles every American school, ranked as No. 1 in Garland County and No. 4 in the state. Out of 244 state schools, Lakeside also ranked No. 1 in best place to teach and No. 5 in districts with best teachers. In Garland County, the district ranked No. 1 with best teachers and No. 1 for athletes. It ranked No. 2 behind Hot Springs School District for Most Diverse School District in the county. Lake Hamilton School District ranked No. 2 and Jessieville School District was No. 3.
According to Niche, the 2024 Best School Districts ranking is based on “rigorous” analysis of key statistics and millions of reviews from students and parents using data from the U.S. Department of Education.
Meanwhile, we award another “Thumbs-up” to the Garland County Cooperative Extension Service, one of five county organizations to earn a spot in representing Arkansas at the 4-H FCS National Championship in San Antonio, Texas, from Jan. 10 to Jan 13. Three 4-H’ers — Lara Lowry, Cadence Vincent, and Canaan Hunter — took part in the FCS Quiz Bowl and Lowry earned fourth place nationally in the FCS Educational Presentation competition.
We thank these four individuals for their positive representation of our state and wish them well.
Shirley Chauvin of Hot Springs submitted the following “Thumbs-up” in recognition of a recent good deed.
In an email, Chauvin wrote, “Recently, I was at the entrance to Dillard’s waiting for the pouring rain to stop. It didn’t. A young man came out of the store and offered to get an umbrella from his car and escort me to mine.
“I gratefully accepted. When reading this column, I often notice the Good Samaritans are not always named so I introduced myself and asked for his name.
“He is Julius Brown, a chef at Applebee’s. It is a sure bet that I’ll be dining there to again thank Julius for his thoughtfulness.”
And in the “staying informed” category, another “Thumbs-up” is due the Garland County Cooperative Extension Service for its continuing “Wonderful Wednesdays” series at the Garland County Library. The free programs are from 1-2 p.m. and “will be interactive and provide research-based information on the topics relative to today’s lifestyles.”
Upcoming subjects are: “Create and Use Affirmations” (Feb. 28); “Find Out How Nutrition Affects Brain Health” (March 27); “Estate Planning for Non-Titled Property” (April 24); and “Everything Tortillas” (May 29).
For further information, email Alison Crane at acrane@ uada.edu or call 501-623-6841.
The Thumbs Column appears in The Sentinel-Record on the first and third Wednesday of each month. The newspaper welcomes readers’ comments and suggestions, which should be submitted in writing with a telephone number and home address for verification and contact purposes. This information is kept confidential.