The ARTicle

In order to secure your enrollment for next year and determine the number of seats we have available in each class before the 2024-25 lottery drawing, it is important to determine how many current students intend to return to Arkansas Arts Academy. Please complete and submit no later than February 16, 2024.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeDjbKjcllFon70O8_GyMhn0RQ6u_s9RM1Ag7JbpNgEh7MmgA/viewform?fbclid=IwAR0Avq5IcG9fsTjKcIFvCEkIDBeQ16iRyDvwNJ458rvAifGL68dramjyb_E

You can purchase via My Payments Plus or contact Chef Sheena at sowens@artsk12.org

Arkansas Arts Academy proudly presents the magical production of "Puffs" on February 27th, 28th, and 29th.

Step into a world of wizardry, humor, and camaraderie as our talented students bring this spellbinding play to life. "Puffs," a hilarious and heartwarming spin-off inspired by a certain famous magical school, promises an evening filled with laughter and adventure.

Secure your seats in advance by purchasing tickets on the Arkansas Arts Academy Eventbrite Page (https://www.eventbrite.com/.../arkansas-arts-academy...) or through mypaymentsplus. Don't miss the chance to witness the magic unfold on stage! For those who prefer spontaneity, fear not! Tickets will also be available at the door on the performance day. Bring your friends and family along for an unforgettable evening of entertainment.

Make plans to visit the Amazeum Youth Maker Market February 16-17 at the Amazeum from 10 am 12:30 pm and then 2:30-5:00 pm. The Amazeum is growing-up and so are their programs, the Youth Maker Market is pilot for makers the age of 11-18. Students throughout NWA have had the opportunity to visit a Youth Maker Market Workshop (which AAA was one of the proud locations to host) and learn how to create handmade products, works of art, crafts to be sold in a market format at the Amazeum!

We are recruiting retired teachers to tutor students during the school day on a grant from the state. You can get paid to get trained and then make $30 an hour with a flexible schedule.
https://bit.ly/tutoraaa
Go here to sign up if you are interested!

Mrs. Wasserman, Mrs. Spalter, and Mrs. Hicks are offering a free ACT Bootcamp for interested students during the first advisory from February 5th - 16th. If an additional day is needed, February 20th will be used. 11th-grade students are encouraged to sign up. All Juniors will be taking the Universal ACT on February 27th. There is no cost for the grade 11 ACT. The Bootcamp is also open to Seniors who are continuing to boost their college application ACT scores. 10th graders are welcome to sign up and will be given any open seats. Please complete this form no later than February 1st, 2024.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfwVk9RY_Wcf_AGFLOp3ASD8wbr6hKUyDZDqYGljb46RjiGwA/viewform?fbclid=IwAR23vTwMnHQ7Kh3bsznxssYgbZen4DtCB0Xg6dv4jb4FNaYhTkNBcKSa7oA

Students will be awarded points for showing behavior expectations presented below in our ARTS behavior grid. We are excited to see the positive behaviors in students!

Kicking off the spring semester we have students in Mrs. Wasserman’s Biology classes who created some AMAZING cellular models for an arts integration project! Be sure to check our website as our “junior biologists” plan to post these “cell-fies”. Your welcome. Okay one more to keep this a board meeting and not a bored meeting. Why couldn’t the plants escape prison? Because there were walls outside their cells!

Rae Tedeton has headed up a Mural Club and students are busy creating large scale projects all over the campus and community. One group is creating a mural for Office Depot, another is developing a mural for Mrs. Theresa Thompson’s Math Class and a third are helping with the set design for the upcoming theatrical production of PUFFS which will take place on February 27-29 the in the PAC!

Who gets the chance to learn about photography from international photographer Annie Leibovitz? Our students! That’s right, Leibovitz’s recent exhibition, Beyond the Lens, at Crystal Bridges also invited the participation of teens to be part of the program. Over 1000 Students started the Teen Photography Mentorship program in the fall. Not all completed, just under 400 made it to the exhibition submission. As part of the concluding events to the exhibition, participating teens were invited to a celebration in the Great Hall at Crystal Bridges. Students enjoyed refreshments, music and received their own copy of the publication for the program! Stay tuned for an AAA exhibition that celebrates the students from our school that participated in the program. To see the documentary about the program visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTSdGRnSfoo or

https://crystalbridges.org/teen-photography-mentor-program/

This weekend our theatre Troupe 7414 traveled with 17 outstanding AAA theatre students to the Arkansas State Thespian Festival in Jonesboro. All students spent the weekend competing in individual events, networking with over 1,600 theatre students from across the state, and attending masterclass workshops with industry professionals. Workshops included Acting, Puppetry, Musical Theatre, Theatrical Design, Audition Techniques, Stage Combat, Improvisation, Shakespeare, Dance, Playwriting, and many many more.

Our Troupe had six students recognized as "Superior" in their performance categories. Kaiya Erwin in Solo Musical, Chance Fitzpatrick and Ben Mauk in Duet Acting, and Matteo Ford and Rowan Riley in Duet Acting. Zachary Phillips not only received a superior rating in Improvised Theatre, but was also awarded the distinction of “Best in Show” for their performance.

Other students that received noteworthy recognition were Savanna Mobley, Zadie Latimer, Bekah Willson, Sophia Pappas, Zachary Phillips, and CC Reidel. These students received "Excellent" ratings in the Solo Acting competition. Luna Varney and Maxwell Heithaus received an “Excellent” in duet musical. Claire Hillam and Ash Mews received an “Excellent” in duet acting. Our troupe received an “Excellent” rating for our short film submission. Zadie Latimer was named a finalist for the Arkansas Young Playwright’s competition. And Kaiya Erwin received distinguished recognition as our Troupe’s “Honor Thespian”.

We had several students called back for college interviews. And Zadie Latimer and Zachary Phillips were each awarded theatre scholarship offers from the University of Arkansas and the University of the Ozarks.

Overall the Arkansas Arts Academy was extremely well represented at this year’s festival. Our students returned from the weekend having gained tons of industry knowledge and invaluable audition experience. Please join us in celebrating our Troupe 7414 Thespians!

Mrs. Breckenridge's English 10 class created scenes from The Odyssey while they studied Homer's epic poem.

Chef Sheena's students have been treating the AAA high school admin team to culinary delights in the form of taste tests. We are proud of our young chefs!

Thank you to Sav Madigan of the Accidentals and The Music Education Initiative for their visit to Arkansas Arts Academy. Sav is working through a National Endowment for the Humanities grant to discuss being in the music business and resiliency and how life is about being in the present and being present is about gratitude. These things help one become resilient.

Congratulations to Cypress Malone for getting accepted to the below colleges! We are so proud of you!

Columbia College Chicago (Chicago, IL)

University of Arkansas (Fayetteville, AR)

Arkansas State University (Jonesboro, AR)

Loyola University - New Orleans (New Orleans, LA)

Moore College of Art and Design (Philadelphia, PA)

Kansas City Art Institute (Kansas City, MO)

Congratulations to Kaitlin Welch for receiving offers from the below schools! We are so proud of you!

Kansas City Art Institute (Kansas City, MO)

University of Arkansas (Fayetteville, AR)

Congratulations to Bella Ford for accepting an offer from the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith! We are so proud of you!

Congratulations to Jaxon Williams for receiving an offer from the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith! We are so proud of you!

Congratulations to Dayanti Arechiga for receiving offers from the below schools! We are so proud of you!

University of Northern Colorado (Greeley, CO)

University of Arkansas (Fayetteville, AR)

Hey parents! Just a friendly reminder about our high school car line etiquette! Let's keep things running smoothly for everyone:

Pull ALL the way up: Help speed up the line by pulling your car all the way to the front.

Stay in your car: For the safety of all, please remain in your vehicle.

Be patient: We're all in this together! Let's be patient and considerate of one another.

Please review the carline map!

Thanks for being awesome! Let's make the car line a breeze! #SchoolTraffic #CarLineEtiquette #TeamworkMakesTheDreamWork

We hope everyone is well as we move through the sick season. We would like to recommend an app called NARCANsas to our staff and families. While opioid prescription rates in Arkansas have decreased over the last 5 years, Arkansas remains the 2nd highest state in the nation for opioid prescription rate. NARCANsas is a free opioid overdose resource that contains tools and resources for those in recovery, peers, family, and friends. The app has step-by-step instructions for administering Narcan, or naloxone, in the event of an opioid overdose. It also has information about opioid pain management, contact information for treatment and recovery related to opioid addiction, and information about access to NARCAN kits. We have NARCAN doses available on both campuses. At the high school, the doses are in the health office and the front office. At the elementary school they are in the health office. We also have NARCAN kits on our buses. Please reach out to your campus nurse if you have any questions.

ES: Katie Milligan, RN kmilligan@artsk12.org

HS: Clara Rogers, RN crogers@artsk12.org

Suicide and Crisis Hotline: 988

Housing, Utilities, or Food Insecurity: 211 or visit 211.org

Arkansas Child Abuse Hotline: 1-800-482-5964
Arkansas Crisis Center: 1-888-274-7472

Basic Needs Search by County: https://adedata.arkansas.gov/scr
Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800-273-8255

Little Free Pantry Map: http://mapping.littlefreepantry.org/