The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts at Hot Springs recognized the top students in the 2017 West Central Regional Science Fair and Senior Research Symposium Feb. 24. Several Southeast Arkansas honorees were included.
The top three overall winners in the science fair will compete in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair May 14-19 in Los Angeles. Students who won first through third place plus the top honorable mention in individual categories are eligible to compete in the Arkansas State Science and Engineering Fair to be held March 31-April 1 at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.
Senior Research Symposium:
Overall winner — Madison Brown of Star City won for the Senior Research Symposium. Brown’s symposium project focused on the history of gambling in Hot Springs. She said her research showed Hot Springs was a different kind of community than other cities where gambling was legal and popular, according to a news release.
“Hot Springs was the only city that introduced gambling to the area more out of curiosity and more of attraction than necessity compared to other gambling cities who were in financial distress,” Brown said in the release. “This used to be a miniature Las Vegas. News would be reported all across the nation about Hot Springs.”
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Other area symposium honorees include:
Arts and Literature Research — 1. Makiya White of Grady; Art and Literature Junior Academy — 1. Makiya White of Grady; History Research — 1. Madison Brown of Star City;
Fine Arts Portfolio:
Visual Arts — Runner-up Baylee Byers of Stuttgart; Fiction — 1. Ivana Tanzil of White Hall;
West Central Regional Science Fair:
Animal Science Research — 2. Team of Will Duke of Pine Bluff and Nick Nahas of North Little Rock;
Animal Science Junior Academy — 1. Team of Will Duke of Pine Bluff and Nick Nahas of North Little Rock;
Engineering: Materials and Bioengineering Research — 1. Logan Watts of DeWitt;
Engineering: Materials and Bioengineering Junior Academy — 1. Logan Watts of DeWitt;
Environmental Science Junior Academy — 3. Matty Murry of Stuttgart;
Mathematics Research — 2. Devin Howard of White Hall;
Mathematics Junior Academy — 2. Devin Howard of White Hall;
West Central Regional Science Fair Special Awards:
Arkansas Chapter of the American Fisheries Society Best Aquatic Sciences Award — Honorable Mention: Team of Will Duke of Pine Bluff and Nick Nahas of North Little Rock;
ASM International Foundation Most outstanding exhibit in materials science — Logan Watts of DeWitt;
Most Aesthetically Pleasing Poster — Senior Research Symposium: Makiya White of Grady.